Saved
by labrenth
Summary: "Instead of asking why people have to save you, maybe you should be asking why you even let them try." Final year of UA in which Uraraka must figure out what it really means to be strong, to be loved, and to be saved. Battles, kidnapping, and a good sprinkling of fluff. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Welcome to my first story!**

The alleyway was shadowed and growing darker as she ran. The communicator in her ear silent, not that she expected the person on the other end to speak. Stealth was her goal, and being anywhere near him would destroy any hope she had of staying hidden. She caught occasional glimpses of him above her, as he ricocheted from rooftop to rooftop, dust and debris falling in his wake. She stayed close to the ground and tried to calm her breathing, knowing that she had no reason to be tired just yet.

"You fucking sound like a dying animal, Round Face." The voice in her ear made her cringe.

Nausea began to pull in her stomach as she whispered, "Maybe if you weren't so heavy, this wouldn't be a problem!"

She surprised herself with the sharpness in her voice. Fearing retribution, she prepared her ears, but was greeted only with grumbling and noticed the sounds of explosions getting slightly louder. She smiled widely to herself, knowing he was currently putting his faith in her and probably didn't want to be dropped several hundred feet.

Her smile quickly faded as she felt the air chill behind her. She looked back quickly and saw the trail of ice hanging at what she estimated to to be the 16th or 17th floor of the building, high enough she was still probably safe, but low enough to be hidden from the fight happening above her.

She grasped a small hand made bomb with all five fingers, sending it flying easily towards the icy ledge where it exploded upon impact. The blast sent a red and white blur careening towards her, and, as expected, a large slide of ice the size of the building appeared to soften the boy's fall and send him back into the flight above.

"Kacchan be careful! This is just a training exam!" A green blur was suddenly above her catching the boy above to place him safely on the roof.

"You need to take care of your God damn self, Deku! If Icy Hot falls and dies, it's his own fucking fault for being a shitty hero!"

She smiled sadly to herself realizing they had forgotten about her already. Not unexpected. Who would remember her when the Big 3 were duking it out a stones throw away?

"If we are going to go with your stupid, shitty plan, then you better get your shit together and get those short ass legs of yours moving." The gruff voice whispered in her ear.

"Now this is how a fucking fight works! The two of you Fuck Sticks together still don't stand a chance against me!" The same voice yelled loudly above her.

She shook her head to wake herself before running straight towards the newly formed ice slide. Them forgetting about her was part of the plan. She placed both hands on the cold, smooth surface and felt her stomach roll. She watched the building-sized glacier begin to float upwards towards the scene above her.

Bakugo floated in the air, weighted down by his gauntlet only, using small explosions to control himself. He dove towards Todoroki and Izuku as gravity returned to him, the beginning of explosions crackling in his hands. The two were able to roll away at the last second as he continued past them, straight to the rising glacier.

She didn't have time to watch the aftermath unfold above her. She placed her fingers on her own cheeks as she jumped upward, joining the needle-like ice shards on their way up towards the evening sky. She met with halfway with the explosive teen who begrudgingly took her hands. He scowled at her as she made him weightless along with her. Her elation at her plan working blocked out all her nausea. She could only plaster on a large goofy smile, refusing to let his glare tear her down. He freed one of his hands to propel them both upward, above their two very confused enemies.

The moment she released her quirk, all hell broke loose. One of the now falling shards sliced her arm, drawing blood. It wasn't painful, but she was beginning to think this may have been a slightly more dangerous idea than she anticipated. She could hear Bakugo cackling as he used his quirk to break apart the roof of the building, ensuring none of them would be able avoid the aftermath.

He had been gung-ho for her idea from the beginning. It had honestly taken her back a bit, as Bakugo is not known for his… Acceptance of assistance. He told her she was fucking crazy, but agreed to aid in her chaos.

This particular assignment was about teamwork. Placing people who are typically not well suited to be partners together in a two on two brawl. Whichever team walked out least injured would be declared the winner. She had been wary when her pairing had been announced. She and Bakugo have surprisingly compatible quirks, so she knew they were paired together because of communication differences. She had expected him to have her sit in a corner to avoid getting hurt to limit their chances of more injuries. When it came to beating Deku, he tended to be single minded, although his more obvious anger had quelled a bit in the last year.

"Yo, Uraraka!" His yell broke her out of her trance.

She had been floating a few feet above the ground to the side of the mess to avoid the impact on the roof. Large rubble had accumulated underneath her. She noted that this could be used for cover if needed, for her and Bakugo. She looked to him and took in the sight. He was grinning wildly, throwing explosions above him to stop the shards and at the two other boys. Todoroki was shooting large fireballs in the air to melt the ice, while using his other half to try and shield Deku, who was having poor luck deflecting all of the shards at once with his pressurized kicks.

She and her partner locked eyes briefly as he motioned to the large fireball heading straight for her and continued his monstrous rampage. She released her quirk on herself and dove towards the large rocks to shield herself. Before she could reach them she was enveloped in a pair of large, strong arms. She could see nothing but green as the world around her was coated in flames. She fell with the body surrounding her to the ground and was pinned down looking straight into the eyes of Izuku Midoriya.

"That's the match!" The loud voice of Present Mic rang from the speakers.

Uraraka could feel her face heat up. Deku unwrapped his arms from her and placed them on both sides of her face to smile down at her. He had taken a lot of damage to get to her, his face was dripping with bloody cuts, his suit sliced on his arms and shoulders. His green attire was bloody and singed, and his hair continued to smoke slightly.

"T-thank y-you, Deku-kun!" She stammered, idiotically and internally berated herself.

He had grown into himself since they first met, his body taller and more muscular, but his face had stayed the exact same. Her stomach flipped in ways that had nothing to do with her quirk, but she frowned a bit at the state he was in.

"Midoriya has taken too much damage! The winners are Bakugo and Uraraka!" Present Mic's voice made her very aware of the compromising position she and Deku had found themselves. She could feel the redness creep into her ears as she pushed him slightly and wiggled away. She noted him grimace at her touch.

"You got hurt because of me…" she said softly as she looked towards her feet. "You didn't have to do that you know…"

"Yes I did!" He rose to his feet and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I worry about you, you know. That was a large blast and you could have been..." He paused for a second before making eye contact. "Your just… softer than me, you know?"

The words settled a bit odd on her. They went forgotten when he proceeded to prove his words by caressing her arm. There was no hiding her blush now, if it could even be called a blush anymore. Her entire body had to be a charming fire engine red at this point.

Her fantasy was interrupted by a very loud voice.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FUCKING SHIT YOU FUCK STICK?! WHO THE FUCK SAID YOU COULD THROW THE FUCKING MATCH?! THAT'S NOT HOW I WANTED TO FUCKING WIN!"

She turned to see her partner stomping over, visibly fuming, followed by a bored-looking Todoroki.

"Definitely softer than him," Deku smiled at her and whispered before turning to his childhood friend. "I know you saw her almost get hit, Kacchan! You just sat and watched! She could have gotten seriously hurt, I had to do something!"

Ururaka smiled up at her protector, taking in his wounds. His back was covered in what looked like second degree burns. His costume was dripping with blood and sweat at this point.

He was probably right, she would not have been able to stand after taking a hit like that.

Bakugo looked to her and then Deku with a heated glare, turned angrily, and began walking towards the door. "She wasn't in any fucking danger. That bitch can take care of her goddamn self. I don't know how you expect her to become anything resembling a hero if you don't let her handle her own shit ever."

She winced at his language, but was stunned by his words. If she could give anything to Bakugo, it's that he never sugar coated his words. But could she have actually blocked that attack?

"Todoroki, take Midoriya to Recovery Girl." Aizawa strolled up to them slowly. Deku smiled at her before turning and using the fire and ice user as a crutch. Leaving her red and alone with her teacher.

"He's right you know." Aizawa turned to her and they made their way after Bakugo towards the rest of the class.

"I know," she said looking down. "I'm glad he protected me, I'm definitely not good enough yet to pr-"

"Not Midoriya, Bakugo." Her teacher cut her off. "You were planning on floating the large debris for cover, right?"

"I guess…" She paused, "But I'm not strong like those three. I doubt at this rate I'll ever catch up."

"Whatever you say." Aizawa lazily walked in front of her, drawing her eyes to the angry teen a few yards ahead.

Did he really think she didn't need saving? Would he have saved her if she did? If he had watched her get hurt, would he have even cared? She settled on a probable answer of 'No' to all of the above and tried to coerce herself into thinking about other things.

They had an exam coming up that Friday and with only 3 more days of studying, she needed to start planning out her cramming study schedule. She had actually been doing pretty well on her exams lately, even the practicals. Her quirk was definitely not flashy, but she couldn't remember the last time she had lost a match.

She smiled to herself, she may have had to train like a madwoman to even try to stay in Deku's shadow, but she was holding on to said shadow with all she had!

"Oh my God, girl! That match was awesome!" the pink alien bounded towards her, "You were like, 'float!' and Bakugo was like, 'sploom!' and then it rained icy chunks and it was awesome!"

She laughed at Mina's enthusiasm, "We wouldn't have won if Deku hadn't saved me!"

"YOU COULD HAVE TOASTED FOR ALL I CARE AND I STILL WOULD HAVE FUCKING WON, ROUND FACE!" Bakugo had a six sense for people saying he wasn't the best.

"Oh come on, Man! You guys won, does it really matter how?" Kirishima slammed a hardened arm into Bakugo's back before turning to her. "We are glad you're okay though, Uraraka- with this guy on your team, it's pretty easy to get caught in the crossfire and that one was a nail-biter."

"IT DOES FUCKING MATTER HOW WE WON, I HAVE NO PLAN OF BEING NUMBER ONE BECAUSE OF A TECHNICALITY LIKE ICY-HOT'S SHIT DAD! Plus, it wasn't my blast aimed at her like an asshole."

"Well I'm glad all of you still have so much energy after part one of the exam," Aizawa waited for everyone to quiet down before addressing the class "Your final exam is Friday, those of you who won your matches today will have off the next 3 days to recover and study. Those that lost will see meet me in the classroom at 7am sharp to cover team battle tactics."

"Sir!" Iida raised his hand violently, "If we won our matches, may we still attend team battle tactics review? I think my partner and I could use more help wi-"

"Are you serious, dude?" Mineta whined angrily

"Go home, Iida. Sleep. Use the time to study for your exam. Now that goes for all of you, back to the dorms!" Aizawa ushered them away from training ground gamma.

Uraraka felt the fatigue kick in as she watched half her class complain. She smiled brightly, she was going to sleep well tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay! Chapter 2! I think I enjoy writing Bakugo cursing a bit more than I should. So I apologize again for the language, but only kind of because I enjoy it.**

 **I hope this is a good addition, and improves a bit from the beginning (Definitely needed a bit of spell check in the last chapter)**

 **Switching POV between the main characters (Izuku mostly because I think he is fun to write as).**

 **I have the story sketched out pretty loosely at this point. I'm looking at around 7 or 8 chapters total? let me know if you have any comments, critiques or advice for a novice writer!**

 **So here is Chapter 2- Change**

"You know you can't keep doing things like that" Todoroki was sitting on the foot of his bed in Recovery Girl's office, looking out the window.

"I guess I just have a penchant for getting myself hurt" Midoriya sighed and placed his hand behind his head apologetically.

"Not getting hurt." Todoroki turned to him "This isn't the first exam you haven't done well on because you have tried to help the other team. It doesn't matter to me, but it doesn't look great for you."

He blushed slightly "I know… But this time it was different… It was Uraraka… and I… I don't know... I'm sorry I caused us to lose…"

Todoroki was right, and now they both had to spend extra time they could have used studying, covering material they already knew.

"Again, it doesn't matter to me." He got up to leave, "I will do fine on the test regardless, and I'm not worried about my ability to be a hero, but I was under the impression you were here to be number one."

Ouch. The door closed softly but it may as well have been a slam. He knew Todoroki wasn't mad at him, but those words stung way worse than his burns. They were a few months into their third year and he still hadn't figured everything out yet. He wasn't even close to achieving what Mirio had by the time he reached this point… It just didn't seem fair.

The league of villains still remained at large, he was still only able to use one for all at 50%, he somehow managed to mess up his practical exams, and he still hadn't figured out how to be alone in a room with a girl.

Uraraka… How could one person mess him up so much? It had gotten to the point where he wasn't able to train with her anymore. The thought of hurting her… or just her being hurt plagued him. Every time she spoke to him, he got this weird feeling in his stomach like he wanted to vomit. So he had been dealing with the feeling in the only way he knew how, by doing his best to avoid her since their third year began. Which was difficult when they ate lunch together everyday and did homework together every evening…

He just needed to buckle down. He was going to be the number one hero after all, no more distractions!

A familiar scent of vanilla and flowers caught his attention as the door opened.

 _'This is going to be harder than I thought…'_

"Hey Deku…" Uraraka noticed he was shirtless and bandaged from his waist to his shoulders. "I just wanted to stop by before heading back to the dorms and apologize for tonight."

His face twisted up into an odd smile, he looked like he was in pain. The blast must have been worse than she originally thought.

"Hi… Uraraka… Why apologize? There is nothing to apologize for!" His face turned red and he turned to look out the window.

"Well, it's kind of my fault you failed because I couldn't take care of myself… And now you have to take those extra classes and you're hurt and I just feel terrible!" She noticed he had his books and some clothes next to his bed, so he must not have been planning on returning to the dorms.

"I'll always be there to save you, Uraraka!" He somehow managed to turn redder "That's what friends are for! Just promise me you'll be careful when I'm not around- I worry about you!"

She had been psyching herself up to talk to him, but she felt frozen. What would happen to her when he wasn't around? Had she been relying on him too much? Would she ever be more than a sidekick to him? Her face must have given her away because the way he was looking at her felt strange.

"Deku… When I'm around you.. I get these feelings and I'm not su-"

"I'm tired! It's late! You should leave now! Goodbye!" He cut her off and got out of bed to push her towards to door. In a quick whirlwind she ended up outside, thoroughly confused and hurt.

Was he so desperate to avoid talking about feelings to actually kick her out? He had been so hot and cold with her these past few months that it felt like their friendship wasn't even important to him anymore. She could feel tears start to well up in her eyes and she rubbed them heavily. She glanced out the window and noticed that it had started to rain.

She smiled to herself, taking some solace in the pure dumb luck that it hadn't rained during their exam. She kept an extra umbrella in the classroom just for days like this and ran up a flight to grab it.

On her way down the stairwell she heard yelling from the direction of Recovery Girl's office. She entered the hall to see an angry Bakugo being shoved into the hallway by the small woman.

"..and if you can't behave like an adult and continue to berate my patients I will ban you from my office regardless of how hurt you get!" The old woman slammed the door in his face.

"I'M NOT BERATING PATIENTS I'M BERATING FUCKING DEKU FOR FUCKING THROWING A MATCH LIKE A LITTLE FUCKING SHIT FACE!"

The old woman popped out of the door to scold his language before the obvious click of the lock came. Uraraka couldn't help but giggle at the explosive teen.

"You making sure Deku's not hurt, too?" He looked surprised to see her.

"I could give two shits about fucking Deku, but now I have to walk home in this fucking rain and I hate the fucking rain and it's all his fault…"

She laughed again and held up her umbrella "It's big enough for two, you know."

"Tch, no way I'm sharing that goddamn kid's umbrella with you!" He turned to walk towards the door.

"It's not a kid's umbrella! It's just got a cute design on it! And if you end up getting sick from the rain and fail the exam Friday, don't blame me!" She smiled smugly and walked passed him.

He made a noise and grabbed the umbrella from her and opened it. "Hey! It's bad luck to open those inside!"

"Tch. It's bad luck that I have to share an umbrella with fucking kittens on it with you, I figured I can't get that much worse."

They walked in silence for most of the way. She was shocked with how calm he seemed, and she wished she could take a photo of him like this. She kept stealing glances and giggling silently to herself. His red eyes were focused on the dorms only, ignoring everything else in his path. Without looking at her he asked,

"Why the fuck to you keep looking at me like that, round face?"

She jumped slightly, moving away from him and exposing her left shoulder to the rain. It was cold out, and the rain chilled her to the bone.

"You're so quiet, I was wondering if you were okay, Bakugo-kun?"

"You're fucking one to talk. You've obviously been crying. No hiding those red-ass fucking eyes. Over fucking Deku probably"

God she was obvious. Her smile faded and she stared at her shoes. She just won a match against two of the strongest people in the class and she was crying over something a stupid boy said. A stupid boy who kept saving her over and over…

"Do you think I'm weak?" She asked quietly not looking up from her feet. The dorms were just a few dozen feet away. "Do you think that's why people are always having to save me?"

He stopped suddenly and looked at her. She almost tripped in attempt to stay under the protection of her umbrella. They were just feet away from the door.

"I don't follow people's plans unless they are good ones." He reached for the door.

She looked at him with confusion, "Wha-?"

"Just take the goddamn compliment, woman! Instead of asking why people have to save you, maybe you should be fucking asking why you even fucking let them try."

He angrily opened the door and they walked straight into the entire class, minus Deku, Todoroki and possibly Hagakure, sitting in the living room discussing the exam.

"Is that a pink umbrella with kittens on it, Bakugo?" Kirishima was leaning over the couch and laughing, "I didn't peg you for that kind of guy!" He wiggled his eyebrows and the room erupted in laughter.

Bakugo dropped the umbrella like it was made of literal lava and started running towards the red haired student.

"It's not my fucking… It's Uraraka's stupid…. DO YOU HAVE A FUCKING DEATH WISH SHIT FACE?!"

Kirishima activated his quirk as he began to run while laughing.

"This is highly inappropriate, boys! As the Class Representative it is my duty to sto-" Iida joined in the pursuit to calm to explosive teen.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING FACE, FOUR EYES!"

Uraraka smiled widely and reached for her fallen umbrella. Tonight was not the night to think about Deku. Tonight was a night to relax, there was an exam coming soon, and she had no intention of doing poorly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Here is Chapter 3 of the story- which is a fluffy bridge to the main story arc. Chapters should be getting progressively longer at this point now that the story has gained a bit more substance.**

 **Thanks to those reading! Please let me know in the comments if you guys are enjoying or have any critiques/suggestions!**

 **So here is Chapter 3- Dreams**

 _Explosions rang out around her. Surrounded by burning buildings, she could hear the screams of their tenants jumping for a final chance at escape from the flames. Uraraka ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't escape the fire licking at her legs and arms. Suddenly she was falling, unable to coax her blistered finger pads to work fully, she was only able to slow the process slightly. She stared at the ground as it grew closer and closer, oddly calm about her impending fate._

 _Maybe death wouldn't be so bad? She wouldn't be a financial burden to her family and no one would have to save her anymore…_

 _"It's okay to give up, this isn't a place for sidekicks to meddle in- you could get hurt like that." She found herself once again in the arms of Deku. He was looking down at her, his face hiding any emotion with a giant smile. He was older looking to her for some reason, more mature. He reminded her of All Might._

 _He had finally achieved his dream. She was so proud and happy for him… But…_

 ** _taptaptap_**

 _Dream?_

 _Her vision blurred and when she looked up at Deku, she found herself looking into blazing red eyes instead. Bakugo? He dropped her somewhat roughly onto the concrete road that had been torn apart by this point in the battle. He glared at her with what appeared to be a combination of anger, disgust and something else she couldn't quite read… Disappointment?_

 _"Like hell you're giving up, Round Face! I don't care if your floating shit won't work- you get your ass out there and you save people anyway because that's what heroes fucking do! They win. Always."_

 ** _TAPTAPTAP_**

 _"Plus," he grinned at her wildly, his face distorting slightly in front of her "since when are you anybody's sidekick?"_

She awoke suddenly to the sound of someone beating loudly at her door.

"URARAKA I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE! IT'S A STAT EMERGENCY!"

She jumped from her bed, dream forgotten and swung open her door to find Mina, still in her nightgown, ready to slam her fists back into the now absent door. She was barely able to dodge her arm as she pulled the pink girl into her room. She looked her up and down and noted she looked just fine. She noticed the purple blush creeping onto her face.

"Sorry to wake you, Ochako, but it's a code brown and you're the only one on our floor with a plunger…" Mina smiled sheepishly at her "I didn't want to bother Momo because I may have tried to use my acid first and I may have made things a bit worse… and this may not be the first time I've had to ask for help…?" She walked past her to grab the item from her bathroom.

Initial annoyance fled Uraraka and she couldn't help but laugh loudly at the scene playing out in front of her.

"See! Laughing is better than what Momo did… She scolded me for 'Abusing our shared septic system'" She had a pretty good imitation of the tall brunette. "Not like it's my fault… I'm pretty sure my room is below Mineta's and I swear to God I hear noises up there at night before it clogs up every time! He's tainting my pipes somehow I just know it!"

She watched as her pink friend procured the plunger from behind her toilet. "Your so responsible Ochako! I'm glad I have you to depend on!" She swung it around haphazardly before realizing what she was doing and laughed loudly "Look! I owe you one. I promised Kirishima I'd make him a 5-star breakfast if Mineta managed to beat Kaminari and Sero in the match, yesterday. I guess he's been training with the two of them enough to know they were a terrible match-up." She pointed the plunger at Uraraka before realizing again what she had in her hand was unsanitary "Get dressed and come on down and join in on my fabulous cooking!"

"Only if you let me help out," Uraraka laughed "I saw what happened last time you tried to tackle food alone."

"Fine, you just know me too well!" Mina sighed "but I've seen you in the kitchen and I know you aren't much better! She stuck out her tongue at Uraraka before taking off down the hall, "15 MINUTES! I'LL GET THIS BACK TO YOU LATER!"

Uraraka laughed loudly, definitely an interesting way to start her morning, but she felt so happy she could burst. She grabbed an extra change of clothes before heading down to the showers. She looked at the clock for the first time since waking.

6:30. Definitely too early to be awake on a day off for Mina. She had a rising suspicion that she planned this timing perfectly so Kaminari and Sero would have to smell her making food on their way to supplemental classes.

She showered quickly and changed into a comfortable pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt. She planned on staying in to study for the day since she had no desire to get back out in the rain today. She tossed her still wet hair into a loose bun before making her way into the kitchen area. Sure enough she found a humming Mina, taunting Kaminari and Sero by explaining her recipe in detail to a smirking Kirishima.

"Oye, Ochako! I've got some veggies here begging for you to chop 'em up real good!" She pretended to throw the surprisingly sharp-looking knife before laughing and handing her a pile to start on.

The commons area made for an entertaining sight this morning. Kaminari and Sero were trying to steal off Mina's cutting board, Kirishima kept hitting back their hands using his quirk, and she saw a good chunk of the class piling on raincoats and umbrellas as they prepared for the walk to class. Even Bakugo had made his way into the common's area reading and taking notes, not even bothering to hide his gloating over the more unfortunate students. Most likely there just to torment poor Deku. They made eye contact for a moment long enough for her to give him a disapproving stare before he raised an eyebrow at her and continued with his work.

"You look really happy this morning, Uraraka!" Deku appeared behind her, seemingly out of no where. She could only imagine the shade of red her face was turning. She hid herself to the best of her ability while still being able to continue chopping.

"Be careful with those knives!" He started walking towards the other students headed out the door and gave her that big smile that made her stomach churn. "You could get hurt like that."

His words stirred something in her. She felt the color drain from her face as she watched him and the others leave. Her dream suddenly flooded back to her in horrific detail and she kept playing his words in her head.

"Uraraka!" Kirishima's voice woke her from her trance along with a stinging sensation on her hands and feet. She looked down and noticed small areas of acid burns and she looked towards Mina's shocked face.

"Ochako… You just dropped that knife and almost sliced yourself open,"

She looked around and noticed that the knife was missing.

"I wasn't really thinking and may have just melted it…" The pink teen laughed softly, "I guess I have to go tell Momo and have her make us a new one… After I get an earful for dissolving another utensil again… You sure your okay?"

The concern in her expression was obvious, even Kirishima seemed unsettled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out there for a second, thanks so much for stopping me from impaling myself!" She blushed and rubbed the back of her head hoping they would ignore her incident.

They gave her a questioning look before both going to track down Momo. Probably assuming she would want to be alone after doing something so embarrassing. Which she definitely did. She went about inspecting her clothes for any damage before taking to washing the remaining acid off her hands and feet in the sink.

"What the hell was that, Round Face?" He gruffly left his study post and made his way to the kitchen, scowling at her.

She stiffened slightly, having forgotten Bakugo had not followed the rest of their classmates. She turned slightly to face him with one acid-splashed foot in the sink and slipped on the watery puddle she had managed to create on the floor. She careened right into Bakugo who quickly stepped to the side and let her hit face first into the floor. She looked up with what she imagined had turned into a red and bruised version of what was once her face and saw him smile.

Of course her getting hurt and embarrassed would be what made him smile.

"You could have caught me you know!" She puffed out her cheeks in attempt to look angry, assuming she was failing miserable because he started to laugh.

"Why would I have done that? Isn't your quirk to literally fucking float yourself?" He smirked at her before his face turned serious

She stuck her tongue out at the explosive blonde before getting up and wetting a rag to wipe any remaining acid off of her other foot. She turned her back to him, mentally willing him to leave so she could stew in her own embarrassment.

"What was with the stupid look on your face before you tried to accidently off yourself?"

No such luck. Although it wasn't like Bakugo to take interest in anyone's lives. "I just zoned out a bit and why would you care about me anyway?" She turned and snapped at him.

"I don't." He walked past her and began reaching around the cabinet above the fridge. "But pure fucking terror when talking to stupid ass Deku isn't something you see on a regular basis." He pulled out another set of knives from the cabinets only the taller classmates used. "Especially from you." He walked over to where her work station had been and began finishing up her abandoned vegetables.

"Do you really own and hide your own personal set of knives? That's weird even for you, Bakugo."

"Do you always change the subject?" He finished up the vegetables and began mixing them with Mina's abandoned bowel of eggs. "Plus, I just watched you and that pink girl successfully disintegrate a knife. No way I'll ever let any of you touch my shit."

She watched him deftly add spices to the mix before cleaning his knife and placing it back into the cabinet. He placed a pan on the stove to heat before turning back to her with an eyebrow raised.

"He just…" she bit at her lower lip thinking about her dream. "He said something that reminded me of a nightmare I had… I wasn't able to fight and people died… And he told me I was just going to get hurt." She poked her finger through an acid hole in her shirt and looked down. "He said the same thing about me holding a knife! I'm I that much of a liability that people don't even trust me with a cooking utensil?!" Her voice started to get louder before she quieted herself.

Bakugo transferred the contents of the bowel into the pan and watched it sizzle for awhile before speaking. "I'd like to say you proved him wrong but.." His eyes trailed down to the hole in her shirt and her burnt fingers.

"Who cares what that shitty nerd says anyway? Do you need him to validate you?" He transferred the done omelet, large enough to feed a small family, to a plate. "That's weak ass shit, Uraraka, and you know it."

When he glared at her, Uraraka found herself unable to tear away her gaze. He was looking at her with the exact same expression she had seen him make in her dream. "I thought you were better than that."

"Something smells delicious!" Mina was skiping down the hall with a sharp knife in tow, Kirishima not far behind eyeing the utensil wearily.

"Awe, Katsuki-kun, you made us all breakfast that was so-" Kirishima stopped short when he noticed the two staring at each other. "Woah guys! If you all need a room just let me know 'cause there is some intense shit going down here."

Kirishima's laugh brought Uraraka to reality long enough to realize they had been staring at each other for an uncomfortably long period of time. Staring may not have been the right word, it felt more like some sort of weird eye battle to her. She blushed heavily realizing what the situation must have looked like.

"Get the fuck out of my way you extras!" Bakugo pushed Kirishima before making his way towards the elevators, full plate of food in tow.

"Bakugo! Aren't you gonna share with us? That was suppose to be our breakfast!" Mina made a quick double take, realizing he had taken the entire meal on one plate.

"Not a chance, Raccoon Eyes." He took a large bite as the elevator doors closed.

"I KNOW YOU KNOW MY NAME, BAKUGO!" Mina sighed before turning towards Uraraka. "How did you get him to be so nice to you! I'm jealous!"

"I'm not sure I'd call that nice…" Uraraka stared towards the doors where Bakugo had just been moments before.

She listened to Mina and Kirishima argue about whether or not she still owed him breakfast for a bit before noticing a notebook lying unattended on the couch.

 _What the fuck was that?_

Bakugo slammed his door behind him before angrily eating the entire plate of eggs because he was not about to share with any fucking extras.

He had intended on berating shitty Deku's girlfriend, criticize the damn nerd and possibly make her cry a bit in the process and then go about his life being generally awesome like usual.

That had not gone as planned.

That fucking nerd has spent so much time sticking his goddamn nose into other people's business he probably can't let his friends have a life of their own. He was obviously clueless about his life in general. He had been holding back in tests lately, scared he was going to hurt someone like they weren't all here to practice getting the shit beat out of them for a fucking living. And the whole thing with Round Face.

Even Bakugo could tell that girl was in love with Deku bastard. She had been improving pretty steadily in her hero exams, it was worth of a smidgeon of his respect. But the moment she found herself with Shitface, she became no better than a cockroach. She stuttered, lost all ability to plan, and he could physically see her self-confidence die.

It made him want to vomit.

But the way she had stared at him today…

 **Knockknockknock**

Could he not have one second of peace before being interrupted by Shitty Hair, Kirishima?

"Fuck you, Hair for Brains, I already ate all your goddamn food and it was delic-" He pulled open the door, explosions ready in his hand to find Uraraka, who grabbed his door frame before he had a chance to close it. She had apparently been working on her reflexes.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't slam this door on your fingers?" He watched her reach behind her back and procure his notebook. He must have left it on the fucking couch earlier. He reached for it and she pulled it away from him, obviously trying to get herself killed.

"Help me train." She hid the notebook behind her back and looked up at him, their gaze meeting once again today. There was something different in them this time.

"No"

"You're the only person who takes me seriously as a fighter." She refused to break his gaze. "You're the only person I can fight who I know will give it everything they've got. Help me train, imagine how much my quirk could help you practice mid air control! We work well together!"

He considered her offer, he didn't see much downside; improving himself while beating the shit out of a worthy opponent? Right up his alley. Plus, she was full of spitfire and confidence. And this was the Uraraka he respected.

"5am sharp, Pink Cheeks, gym gamma. If you're late I'll kick your ass." He smiled cockily, grabbed his notebook, and pushed her out of his room. "To be fair though, I plan on doing that anyway" He slammed the door.

He had to get away from those stupid eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, I couldn't find a good place to end this chapter, so I hope it doesn't feel too abrupt! I'm already working on the next one, so please leave any comments or critiques via comments!**

4- Persevere

Uraraka had forgotten how early 5AM really was. She had stayed up late studying for the exam and had forgotten 5AM sharp actually meant waking up at 4:30AM and somehow being a human being. She rolled out of bed and placed her sleeping mitts on their hook. She donned her gym clothes before brushing her teeth and splashing some water on her face. She decided to pull her hair completely off her face for this session, lest she end up with singed bangs a la Bakugo.

4:45AM and the commons area was completely empty. Not surprising given the time, but there was already a pot of coffee on the warmer. She silently thanked her unsung hero and filled a cup to go before grabbing her gym bag and heading out the door.

4:59AM. She had gotten distracted by a cute squirrel and taken to a light jog to make it on time. She was already winded. Good start.

Her coffee was still scalding, but she knew she wouldn't get another chance so she decided to chug it down anyway.

5:00AM. Fanning her burnt tongue she entered the gym, finding Bakugo already running around the track.

She had already decided this was a mistake.

"I'm surprised you actually came." He said to her casually as her passed her around the track. She waited for him to continue, but realized that this was probably her invitation to join. She threw down her bag and fell in behind him.

She watched him closely as he ran with an air of complete focus, it was motivating in a way and she felt like she was moving a little faster, but that could have also been the caffeine.

After what felt like 16 years of running, he moved to the center of the arena. He beckoned her to join him.

"You wanted someone who wouldn't hold back, right?" He blew off a few tiny explosions in his hands to warm up his quirk.

To her delight, he made no hesitation in running at her full speed.

The first explosion hit hard. She was barely able to dodge as she rolled to the right. She realized immediately that his run was not to warm up his body, but to get his sweat flowing enough to best utilize his quirk in the cooler weather. Another explosion hit too close for comfort.

He was keeping his explosions high enough as to not break up the field. She assumed that this was less about concern for the floor and more to stop her from utilizing her quirk. He may be slightly insane, but Bakugo had crazy battle skills.

"I ain't given you anything to float this time, Pink Cheeks!" He aimed another explosion at her chest as she rolled herself backwards. "Or would a more accurate name be Red Face?" He laughed wildly as she found herself panting.

Stupid run. She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but she couldn't keep dodging like this or she would run out of steam too fast.

She waited for his next explosion before launching herself into the air, touching her cheeks to send her floating quickly towards the ceiling. He followed suit by using explosions to rocket towards her. She released herself just as his hands reached towards her face, she could feel the heat from the explosion inches away. On her way down she reached out and grabbed his ankles bringing them both down towards the ground. He flipped to plant an explosion to cushion their fall. As she saw the first spark, she used her hold on him to remove his gravity, sending him careening into the ceiling with explosive force.

The impact sent debris flying as dust filled the air. She floated herself slowly to the ground before staring up, not daring to let down her guard. Another explosion signaled Bakugo's descent. She released his gravity to increase his force back to the ground, realizing her mistake the second she saw his wicked smile. He aimed his explosion towards the ground with enough forced that she was thrown into the back wall. Hard. She could feel blood trickling down her neck.

Bakugo hadn't made it out unscathed either. His right arm was bruised from the effort and he was scratched up from the debris. He was running towards her before she could even register, planting an explosion with his left hand straight towards her chest, knocking her back into the wall.

No time to think, she reached her hands to her left to find a large piece of broken cement. She used her quirk to swing it easily towards Bakugo's right shoulder, releasing its gravity just in time to slam him in the side. He used his left arm to stabilize, obviously favoring his right. She used her chance to get in close and flung herself towards his front, pinning both his arms behind him. He looked her in the eyes for only a second before slamming his forehead into hers violently. She felt her neck whip back hard, but refused to let go. Infuriated, he activated his quirk anyway, sending them both into straight into the ground with Uraraka taking the brunt of the force.

She felt herself on the verge of losing consciousness for a second and before she could even register moving, Bakugo was on top of her, pinning her down. He had her hands above her head, grabbing both her wrists in his left hand leaving her unable to use her quirk. His right hand was pointed at her face, letting her know the battle was over and she had lost.

He had cuts and a bruised and bleeding arm, but he had definitely come out of this much less scathed than her. She could feel her back and neck aching, most likely bruised and bleeding. Her jacket had been incinerated, her ripped black tank top the only thing covering what she assumed to be a mild to moderate burn on her torso. She frowned, knowing he was about to berate her for being weak.

"It's been awhile since I've had such a good spar, Round Face." He lowered his right arm gently to rest on the ground. "It's been awhile since I've seen that battle hungry smile on your face. It suits you."

She blushed at the complement. Whether he had meant it or not, she felt more powerful than she had in months.

"Bakugo, what have I told you about sneaking out early and ruining the gy-"

They both turned to find a very tired and surprised Aizawa. He took a quick second to observe their surroundings and their currently position.

"Nope," he turned around and headed for the door. "Not dealing with this one. I am not paid enough for teenage sex ed."

Uraraka became suddenly more aware of how they must look, her pinned under him, faces close, and hers with a deep blush. She met red eyes that were now housed by a face of almost equal color.

She had never seen Bakugo get embarrassed before and she couldn't help but let loose a laugh. The noise was enough to bring him to his senses and he proceeded to rocket launch himself a few yards away from her, slightly singing her skin in the process.

"Hey! That hurt!" She rubbed her wrists, which had taken most of the force in his flee. "Totally uncalled for!"

"I just beat the living shit out of you and that's what your complaining about? Fuck, Uraraka." He had his back to her, obviously still embarrassed, his ears still pink.

She pulled herself up, groaning at the pain in her head and raising her hand to where it hurt worst only to meet blood. It stung badly, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from smiling. "Well, I don't think I'm bad enough off to need Recovery Girl, but I brought some bandages and burn ointment with me." He still faced away from her, but she noted his right arm was bruised, burnt, and bleeding. "Looks like you could use some too." She walked closer to inspect his wounds.

"I don't need shit, Round Fa-Oww!" His yelped when she grabbed his right arm. He scowled at her, but followed quietly over to her bag.

She could feel him watching her as she cleaned her own wounds with some normal saline and gauze. Her cuts weren't deep, so wrapping herself was sufficient for now. For her burns, she rinsed and put on some ointment, bandaging herself to the best of her ability. She blushed a bit as she remembered the tattered state of her shirt, casting it aside to wrap the larger, but milder, burns around her torso.

It wasn't like being in her sports bra was abnormal during a fight, but having him watching her made her slightly self-conscious. His eyes never left her as she finished wrapping the bandages. There was no blush or scowl or anger, just intense curiosity. It was not a face she saw on him often.

She gathered her supplies and started on his arm.

"You're really good at this." He winced slightly as she cleaned his arm, eyes never leaving her hands.

"I took some extra classes to learn." She began feeling for any tenderness before she began wrapping. "I know my quirk is really well suited for rescue missions, so it's a skill I felt I should learn. It was pretty grueling to take night classes with my internship, but I guess it worked out!"

She secured his arm in a sling before packing up her supplies. "You pushed me pretty hard today, Bakugo, I guess I have a lot more training to do before I can catch up to you." She smiled at him weakly.

"Who said we were done training today?" A wicked grin spread across his face.

"Are you crazy? Look at you!" She laughed at him and stood to look over him. "Plus, I think I would have the advantage this time."

"Is that a challenge? No quirks. Hand to hand combat. See if you can hold your own against me when I have one hand tied behind my back." He slowly stood, positioning his right arm so that it would be out of the way and made his way back to where they had just landed earlier.

Uraraka had been working hard on her hand to hand. It was obvious Bakugo was physically stronger than her, but she had to make up for a non-offensive quirk somehow, so she had practice on her side. He came at her quickly, faking a punch and landing a kick to her legs that knocked her over.

She was prepared for the next assault, letting him punch where her face had been seconds before and used his momentum to flip him over onto his back. He got up and ran at her again, only for her to duck and come up underneath him, flipping him back to his back once again.

"How does it feel to be beaten by a frail little girl, Bakugo?" She laughed and was able to land a punch before he connected his leg to her hip, sending her flying.

"There's not a frail thing about you, Pink Cheeks." He grinned wildly and charged once more.

After what felt like years, they collapsed on the arena, unable to keep going. She couldn't help but smile, she was drenched in sweat, wrapped from head to toe in gauze, and having the time of her life.

10AM. They had been training for almost the entire morning. They hobbled to their respective locker rooms, showered, and Uraraka re-dressed their wounds.

A low grumble followed by a high pitched gurgle reminded her of the time. She held her stomach tightly as she felt a blush rise to her cheeks, smiling out of embarrassment.

"Training is useless if you skip meals." He gave her his signature scowl.

"If I didn't know better, Bakugo, I'd think you were concerned about me!" She smiled brightly "plus imagine how good lunch is going to taste now!"

She would have liked to eat breakfast, but with her funds running on empty, her cabinet in the kitchen had been empty for a few days. She checked her wallet discretely, noting barely enough for some rice and milk in the cafeteria. She groaned.

"I'm not concerned, but if my sparring partner isn't eating she won't be much of a challenge." He stood up and started heading towards the door. "I'm buying lunch. Get your ass over here."

"How did you know?" She grabbed her bag and raced after him.

"You literally wear every fucking emotion and thought on your fucking sleeve like a goddamn movie." He eyed her to make sure she was following. "You really need to work on that."

"Well, thank you." She quickly switched subjects to avoid her growing embarrassment. "So how was the fight, anyway? Any pointers to throw my way?" They began walking towards the cafeteria.

"Your stance wasn't ideal when you came at me. It worked for hand-to-hand, but my quirk would have fucking destroyed you again." He lowered himself to her height to show her how he would defend against himself. "A closed stance would protect you more."

She laughed at his imitation, her mind on nothing but how determined she was to improve.

He had found class today boring, which was unusual for Izuku. He couldn't remember the last time he had thought class was boring since before entering UA. He couldn't seem to get his mind together today, and the lunch bell couldn't come fast enough. The material they were covering was pretty basic, but it was still part of the exam. The harder material was back in his dorm, and between daily classes and training with All Might, it had been stuck on his desk collecting dust. He knew he should have focused a bit more on it, but he just felt so distracted.

According to All Might the league had been moving recently. Small petty crimes here and there, but still there all the same. He had been working on some recon work, but they hadn't found any leads so far. On top of all of that, the last time he had seen Uraraka, she had looked upset by something. He had been leaving at the time and tried to track her down later, but he wasn't able to find her. That was probably for the best though, he wasn't sure he could handle that weird feeling in his stomach right now.

He and Todoroki joined Kaminari and Sero walking to lunch after morning lecture. Izuku was thankful for the break to clear his head a bit. The two boys were arguing about how to best celebrate after their Friday exam.

"We could probably grab a few bottles of Champagne! Alcohol isn't allowed in the dorms though." Sero was the last to grab his food as they headed to sit down.

"Hey man, no one has to know!" Kaminari was somehow already half way done with his meal.

"I probably wouldn't partake anyway," Sero pointed at them "The senior rankings are posting on Monday and the business students who make the list will be watching the training grounds all weekend."

Izuku quietly listened to their conversation with absent-minded nodding. He had remembered the rankings were soon, but he hadn't really thought much about it. He, Todoroki and Bakugo had been neck in neck in the business prediction of who would be in the top three since the beginning of second year.

"I say that they've been watching us already. Jiro and I found a new camera in one of the gyms when we were training last weekend"

"You sure you were training?" Mineta hopped into the open chair at their table. Kirishima and Mina followed closely behind. "Maybe if you spent more time training with Sero, and less _'training'_ with Jiro, I wouldn't have been able to beat you so easily."

"Man, it feels weird to be getting lunch when we don't have class." Kirishima smirked and shoved Mineta away from an incredibly red Kaminari, taking his seat. Kaminari gave him a thankful look. "I've barely seen much of anyone since Monday's exam"

"I've been studying so hard my head is fried" Mina pouted and wrapped her arms around Kirishima's neck. "Momo has been tutoring us this week and it's been hell"

Kirishima pushed her off playfully and she walked over to place her chin on Kaminari's head.

"Unfortunately, I tried to study with Denki last time though so I'm not sure if any score can make up for that"

"I already apologized for that like… 100 times! You know..." Kaminari trailed off mid sentence with his eyes fixed on the entrance.

"Well, that is not something you see on a regular basis"

Mineta's comment drug Izuku from out of his thoughts and he followed his gaze to the door. Uraraka was entering the cafeteria smiling and laughing while covered heavily in bandages. She looked happier than he had seen her in months. Beside her, scowling, was an slightly less heavily bandaged Bakugo.

No one in their group said a word as they watched the pair pick up food, for which Bakugo paid for both of them. He made a comment to her at which she shoved him playfully into the wall. Bakugo fumed for a moment, but grinned as he shoved her back.

"What the actual hell…" Kirishima almost whispered without moving. The entire group was frozen, watching the spectacle, minus Todoroki, who continued eating without seeming to notice.

"Uraraka!" Izuku yelled across the cafeteria at her. They must have been sparring for some reason, and of course Bakugo had taken it too far and hurt her. He felt anger rise up in his stomach.

She turned to the group briefly and waved with a large smile on her face before turning to sit at the same table as the explosive teen.

Izuku stood up, ignoring a raised eyebrow from Todoroki, and made his way angrily towards the pair.

"Kacchan, you need to be more careful! Uraraka, are you all right?" he smiled at her, the pit in his stomach bubbling loudly.

"Back off, fucking Nerd. She can handle herself just fine." Bakugo glared at him.

"Ahh, the famous Baku-aura, can't you be nice for once?" She laughed as Bakugo began eating angrily. "Did you need something, Deku?"

He faltered for a moment, unsure of what to say. "W-would you like to study together today at some point, Uraraka?" He could feel his ears getting red.

"Sorry, Deku, I'm exhausted right now and I promised I'd study with Tsu tonight and do review questions!" She smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder, it burned him to his core. "Maybe next time?"

"Yeah sure! My bad then…" He smiled and rubbed the back of his head before turning around and heading for the door, feeling more confused than ever.

"You can always study with Iida and I today if you'd like." Todoroki had matched pace behind him.

Izuku smiled at him but kept walking, "No thanks, I think I have some thinking to do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I ended up with a family member in the ICU and lived in a waiting room chair for a week or two. Everything is good now, and I made this chapter a little longer to compensate!**

 **Next chapter hits big stuff, so let me know what you like and dislike in the comments!**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 5- The Reveal

His shoulders ached from bending over his notebook all night. It could have also been from two days straight of intense training with a certain gravity user, but Katsuki Bakugo was never one to admit weakness in any form.

Sparring with her this morning had been equally as entertaining as the day before. He could see her improving and she was a crafty little bitch when it came to fighting dirty. He smiled to himself for a brief second before he returned to scowling to his notebook.

He had spent the afternoon at his internship itching for a fight that never came and the long patrol shift drained him more than the sparring. It gave him too much time to think and it pissed him off.

All he could think about was shitty fucking Deku.

They had run into Deku, Four Eyes, Frog girl, and Icy-Hot after their spar that morning. It took less than a minute before the shitty Nerd and Round Face began ogling one another. The girl who had spent the last 3 hours sparring toe to toe with THE Katsuki Bakugo couldn't even look stupid Deku in the eye without floundering like an idiot.

That pissed him off.

They had asked her to study as a group that night and the shitty nerd had asked her to go to dinner with him that weekend. Alone. Even worse was the look on his face when he asked her. Embarrassment, concern, worry, possessiveness.

Deku always pissed him off but this was something more. It had left Bakugo feeling sick at all the stupid emotional shit and he had stormed off.

Thinking about it now made his stomach churn.

"Shit." His hand stung as another pencil exploded in his hands. He threw the remnants in the trash before grabbing another. "Fucking pencils."

He had already prepared well enough for the exam, but he had no intention of settling for anything lower than the best and breaking pencils was not aiding him any.

He just couldn't place his finger on what about all this was getting him so riled up. Maybe it was the way Uraraka lowered herself for the shitty nerd of all people, waste of potential.

"Fucking weak shit." There was a loud noise as he let off a small explosion in his right hand, dropping the pencil first lest he run out before the end of the night. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand, it was just a bit after nine. It was going to be a long night.

He walked to his closet and threw a jacket over his black tank top. He struggled with sleeping the night before exams, more out of excitement than nerves, but with all this shit clouding his head he needed a break. He reached for the door but stopped when he heard shuffling outside.

 **Knock Knock Knock**

"No." He stopped and crossed his arms on his chest. He had a very strong suspicion of who was trying to annoy him which was confirmed by the inhumanly loud banging that followed.

He sighed and opened the door, landing a small explosion on Kirishima's hardened fist, causing the red-headed boy to jump back.

"Jeez, Bakugo, you trying to kill me?" He smiled as his hand returned to its normal appearance.

"Well you obviously have a fucking deathwish." Bakugo stepped into the hallway and closed his door behind him before heading towards the elevator. "And banging loud enough to wake up the entire floor isn't a good way to prove you deserve to live."

"I doubt anyone is asleep yet, I have a strict no quirk knocking after ten rule" He laughed before trotting after the explosive teen. "Where you going?"

"Out" He unsuccessfully attempted to close the elevator doors before he was joined by the red head.

"Man you are just in a lovely mood tonight, I could hear you cursing and blowing stuff up in your room and now you are trying to avoid your best friend" He gave a goofy smile to which Bakugo raised his eyebrow without a response.

Their quiet was interrupted as they entered the main room.

"That one is B for sure! Having support heroes on sight with advantageous quirks could change the entire tide of battle!" The girl had a large, satisfied, smile on her face.

"Wow, Uraraka, you must have been studying very diligently, you haven't missed a single question tonight! Your knowledge has certainly improved!" Iida patted her awkwardly on the back, causing her to fall forward laughing.

Bakugo stopped suddenly, staring at the scene, causing Kirishima to walk right into him.

"Hey, dude, what was that for!?" Kirishima was rubbing his head where it had collided with Bakugo.

 _Well shit._

Bakugo cursed to himself quietly as the group turned and stared at the two of them. It was Froggy, Engine Legs and Uraraka, no Deku in sight.

"Hey Bakugo! Why don't you and Kirishima join us!" Uraraka smiled and attempted to wave them over to the group.

Bakugo smirked for a moment at her returned vigor as compared to that morning, before catching himself, scowling at them, and turning towards the door.

"Tch" he quickly exited, feeling Kirishima's eyes on his back.

"Sorry guys! Maybe we can all hang out after the exam?" Kirishima smiled before hesitantly following an uncharacteristically happy Bakugo out the door.

The early November breeze was cold against his skin. He was still wearing shorts and the night air made him shiver slightly. He felt lighter and less angry already somehow. Although he could hear Kirishima noisily crunching leaves behind him, they walked in spoken silence for what felt like hours.

The courtyard behind the dorms had a raised, lined path around its perimeter. It was mostly lit with the far side covered by the shade of the trees. It was hidden partially by leaves, but Bakugo often made this walk when he was unable to sleep and knew where to walk to avoid tripping.

Kirishima did not.

Bakugo could hear him stumbling behind him trying to keep up, his stupid quirk was probably the only thing saving him from spraining his ankles.

"You'd think with how nice these dorms are, they'd be able to pay someone to rake. I mean… There are people here with wind quirks. I bet they could carefully set it on fire with some help from Todoro-"

"If you've got something important to say, Hair for Brains, then just say it." Bakugo spoke without turning towards the red head. He didn't enjoy the intrusion into his quiet walk and even _he_ could feel the awkward tension Kirishima was oozing behind him.

"Well…" Kirishima ran a bit so they were walking side by side on the path, he was biting his bottom lip in an apparent attempt to formulate his thoughts making him look like some fucking kid. "You've been kind of… Emotional lately. Not in, like, a laughing then sobbing kind of way. But it feels like your angry has been extra angry, and lately, you've definitely been… Happier?"

"I don't know what you're fucking talking about"

"Especially when it comes to Uraraka…" He paused for a moment, obviously choosing his words carefully. "I mean, you guys are spending a lot of time together all of a sudden, you bought her lunch yesterday, and Mina and I walked in on some weird vibes on Tuesday."

The red head closed his eyes and instinctively activated his quirk for protection. It seemed like too much of a hassle to work up enough sweat for a good pummeling just yet, so the explosive teen resorted to a irritated glare.

"And you're not attacking me! Who are you even?!"

Bakugo raised an eyebrow, "Do you want me to attack you?" Kirishima shook his head before silently waiting for him to continue.

"She asked me to help her train." He began walking once more down the path.

"Okay… that was kind of an answer… What about the lunch?"

"What, do you want me to just beat her to a pulp and then let the bitch starve? She can't even fucking afford food to put in her kitchen cabinet unless it's ramen."

"Huh… Now that you mention it, I guess I have seen her skip out on dinner quite a few times. Maybe Sero, Mina and I could grab her some extra foo-"

"Did you really follow me out here because I did a good deed or do you have a better reason to annoy the shit out of me?" Bakugo had a feeling Kirishima wasn't done trying to force emotional shit down his throat.

"Well… I was talking to Tsu earlier this evening while you were cursing at the wall in your room and she told me you got super upset at Midoriya this morning when he asked out Uraraka..."

That Frog bitch was always sticking her nose where it didn't belong.

"Shocker of a lifetime, I apparently don't get along well with shitty fucking Deku! Who could have fucking guessed?!"

"Are you jealous of him?" Bakugo could feel his face mold into pure, unbridled, anger.

"Not like that! Like… Are you jealous of him and Uraraka?"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? YOU FOLLOWED ME OUT HERE TO ASK ME SOME MIDDLE-SCHOOL ASSED QUESTION?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU! I'M NOT FUCKING JEALOUS OF ANYONE!" Bakugo's palms began to crackle, he hoped Kirishima appreciated the cold weather keeping his sweating to a minimum or he would actually be dead by now.

"No biggie! I've just never seen you be so… nice to anyone else, you know? And you seem to really not like when the two of them are together."

Bakugo cooled a bit and kept walking back towards the dorms. He knew he wouldn't get any peace and quiet until he exhibited some sort of emotion. Kirishima had been trying for years to get him to open up about feelings and threats never seemed to deter him like they should.

He swallowed hard before responding.

"Deku has gotten a bit stronger" He struggled to get the words out above a whisper. "But he has this stupid need to protect everyone all the time and it drives me fucking insane."

"Isn't that what heroes are suppose to do?" Kirishima walked next to him, carefully leaving a decent amount of distance between the two of them.

"Heroes protect people who can't protect themselves." Bakugo found himself at the base of their dorm's steps, he sat down on the lowest and looked up at the night sky. "Uraraka can take care of her goddamn self, but he won't let her do it."

"How almost poetic of you, Bakugo." Kirishima continued up the stairs. "So you aren't jealous, you just respect her? I still think that's the warmest emotion I've ever seen you show someone"

"Shut the fuck up, Hair for Brains."

"Get some sleep Bakugo," Kirishima pushed open the doors to head inside "We do have an exam tomorrow" He smiled at the blonde teen before disappearing into the building.

Bakugo ran his hands through his hair. Who in their right mind would think he would be jealous over something so stupid? Katsuki Bakugo did not do feelings or relationships, that was weak shit for weak people like shitty Deku.

He felt the wind hit his legs and stood up to follow Kirishima inside. The clock above the oven read just a bit over half past ten. How had he only been out there for an hour and a half? Listening to Kirishima whine had felt more like years. He started towards the elevator when a noise from the main room pulled his attention. The room was dark save for a lamp next to the couch, which illuminated a floating, ghost-like, figure. He ventured closer only to find the figure to be a blanket, floating several feet above the couch, casting a shadow on the sleeping girl below.

Bakugo snorted, stifling a laugh that would likely wake her. She was drooling slightly, still able to smile somehow while sleeping. Her cheeks remained their signature pink matching a set of fuzzy pink shorts. She was shivering slightly, cold with the absence of her only cover.

So he wasn't the only one who accidentally activated their quirk while sleeping. Although his caused quite a bit more damage to furniture. He reached for another blanket beside the couch, deciding against waking her, and placed it around her frame, safely away from her fingertips. He noticed her phone plugged into the wall across the room—no password of course. He would have to make fun of her next time they sparred for being way too trusting. He set an alarm to make sure she woke up in time for the exam.

He started towards the elevator once more, taking a look back at the girl on the couch. Lying there, continuing to happily drool she looked like a stupid little kid. He smiled a little to himself as he made his way back to his room.

He had no idea what Kirishima was thinking, he definitely wasn't jealous.

Uraraka rolled over groggily at the sound of her alarm. She felt nausea tug at her stomach and instinctively placed her fingers together, only to be slammed in the face by a large blanket.

Her eyes shot open. She panicked slightly realizing she was not in her bed but in the main living room. She tripped over multiple blankets on her way to her phone, relieved to see the time read 7:00, two hours until the exam. She had opted to stay and finish reviewing questions after Tsu and Iida had gone to bed around ten and based on the location of her small puddle of drool, she hadn't gotten much farther before falling asleep. Luckily someone decided to set her alarm, most likely Tsu, she would have to thank her later.

She decided to head straight for the shower to avoid explaining her embarrassment to classmates. After a quick rinse and a jog up to her room to change clothes, she felt refreshed and surprisingly ready to tackle the exam. She had been on a string of good exam scores and with the list of student rankings dropping soon, she was hoping this exam would be another boost to her hero stats.

She stared at herself in the mirror in her room, she was still slightly scratched and bruised from her training with Bakugo, and she smiled at how powerful the marks made her feel. She had spent the last few months doing daily drills and training with Tsu, but training with Bakugo was so much more intense. She and Tsu had focused mostly on technique, so her last few days of all out fighting had been a welcome change.

She bounded down the stairs to find a few classmates eating breakfast, including her froggish friend.

"Mornin' Tsu!" The green girl moved an extra piece of toast her way which she scarfed down hungrily, "Thanks so much for setting my alarm last night, total life saver!" She mumbled through a full mouth.

"Morning 'Chako" she smiled and passed another piece of toast to Uraraka's delight, "Glad to see you in such a good mood today, Ribbit. But I didn't set your alarm, I came down early this morning to make sure you had been awakened and you were already gone."

"Oh… Weird! Oh well, as long as I got up, right?" She grabbed the used dishes and ran them to rinse in the sink before picking up her bag "Ready to go ace this exam?"

"I'm ready to do my best," They headed to the door together. "You're the one who will ace this, you've really been getting better and better this past year. Everyone's noticed, Ribbit"

"Thanks Tsu!" Uraraka felt her cheeks getting red at the unexpected compliment, "I really don't know what to say!" She laughed loudly, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

The air in the classroom was tense. Uraraka placed her bag by her desk and surveyed the room. She could see Kaminari visibly buzzing in his chair with nervousness, Todoroki had his usually look of apathy, and Momo was quizzing a frantic Mina. Students were continuing to trickle in, some looking confident and others matching the electric boy's demeanor. Her eyes stopped on Bakugo, his red eyes held pure willpower and determination, she smiled and waved when their eyes briefly met, eliciting a small "Tch" from the teen.

"Uraraka!" Her eyes moved the next seat over to Midoriya. She blushed and made her way over to him.

"Morning, Deku! You ready for the test?" She found herself absentmindedly twirling a finger in her hair.

"I guess… I wasn't able to keep up with you guys last night… So we'll see I guess!"

"You were doing fine! You just needed more time to go over stuff alone! You're always so good at this stuff, I'm sure you'll do great!" She placed a hand on his shoulder, causing both of them to turn a matching shade of cherry red.

"Well… um… Are you uh… Excited for dinner Sunday?"

"I guess… I mean… Yes!" She felt stiff as a board as she stumbled over her words, barely squeaking out her affirmation.

"Me too!" He smiled at her, almost making her forget about the entire exam. "I'm going to run to the restroom really quick before we start, good luck!" He bolted passed, leaving her staring after him, smiling into thin air.

"Eyes on the exam, Round Face" She was brought back to reality by an annoyed Bakugo staring holes into her. "If you keep gaping at that shitty nerd like that, you'll never be a real hero."

She didn't have a response for him. He was right though; she couldn't get distracted right now of all times. She shook herself to get back into the zone and made her way to her desk.

Aizawa walked in just as she sat down. She groaned slightly remembering the last time she had seen him, and hid her face slightly behind Iida's tall frame.

"Sit up straight, Uraraka! It is time for us to test our knowledge and prove our intelligence to the world!"

She smiled at her tall friend as Aizawa passed out the exams, obviously avoiding eye contact to her great relief.

They had five hours to finish the exam. After breezing through the first page, she felt pretty confident she wouldn't have any issue finishing in time. The material was difficult, but she had been working so hard this last year she just had to do well.

She finished and reviewed relatively quickly, with an hour to spare. She wasn't the first done, but she left behind a moderately full classroom.

There was a class party planned last minute by Kaminari and Momo for that night to celebrate finishing the exam week, but Uraraka decided to make her way to the gym to work off her extra exam nerves instead of helping with decorations. She quickly changed into her gym clothes before making her way over to the weight room.

Lifting weights always felt weird to her, she knew that it was good for her, but fighting the urge to pile on plates just to make it weightless was difficult. She giggled as she transitioned from curling 20lb dumbbells to weightless air.

"I'm pretty sure lifting weights doesn't count if they don't weigh anything" Bakugo sauntered into the gym passed a freshly embarrassed Uraraka and towards the track. He placed headphones in his ears before starting his run.

 _I guess he had the same idea I did_ … Uraraka could feel his eyes on her every time he rounded the track, it was motivating in a way. She couldn't help but put in her all when Bakugo was around, it was one of the reasons she enjoyed training with him so much.

The gym remained mostly empty for the afternoon. She knew Momo had recruited most of the class to prepare for the party and she felt slightly guilty for not volunteering. By the time she finished, she was drenched in sweat and prepared to shower, grab dinner and enjoy a nice relaxing evening with her classmates.

Relaxing was not what met her at the dorms.

"Uuuurrraaakkka!" She opened the door to find Mina already in her arms, spilling a bit of liquid from the glass in her hands. "Where have you been? You missed the toast and everything!"

The main room was decorated beautifully with glitter, lights and streamers. Loud music was blaring from the corner with Jiro at the control. Some people were dancing, others were chatting over glasses of what she assumed to be, based on Mina's demeanor, relatively strong alcohol.

"Midoriya even saved a glass for you, girl" Mina winked at her and pulled her over to the kitchen area. Sure enough, she was face to face with a red-tinged Midoriya, clumsily handing her a glass.

"I hope the e-exam went well for you!" He smiled and handed her a glass.

She sniffed it before taking a sip, it smelled and tasted way too fruity for what she assumed was strong alcohol, but she couldn't say no with how cute he looked offering.

"I think I did okay, I guess!" She smiled and continued an awkward conversation before being handed more and more drinks.

The night went on as a relative blur, dancing with Mina, helping a sick Midoriya to the bathroom, playing flip cup with Kaminari and Sero, and a pair of red eyes guiding her to her room.

She awoke with a massive headache and nausea that wasn't relieved by touching her fingers together. It was going to be a long day of patrols.

Sunday morning came early for Izuku. He had alternated between sleeping and fighting back severe nausea most of the day Saturday and had decided he was never touching alcohol ever again. He had only decided to drink at all because Mina convinced him it was a good chance to get closer to Uraraka, and unless she enjoyed helping him to the bathroom so he could vomit and carrying him to his room he really didn't think it helped. He had also managed to miss a training session with All Might which he severely regretted. It wasn't too often they could sneak away to get some more in depth practice with One for All, and the former hero's health had been declining.

It wasn't just the training he missed, Izuku enjoyed learning more about the city and what All Might knew. He couldn't help but join in on his mentor's obsession with the League of Villains, their silence had everyone on edge, waiting for the next attack. Some pros believed they had disbanded, and the urgency for training new heroes had been slowly declining. That specifically is what unnerved Izuku the most.

Training that morning had not gone well either. His is muscles had felt tight before he even left for the gym. When he went multiple days without using his quirk, he found that he was prone to easily injuring himself. He had felt a painful popping sensation in his legs while working on his shoot style at the beginning of his workout and ended up in Recovery Girl's office, much to her chagrin. She had sent him home tired, but healed. As long as it was his legs getting injured he wasn't concerned about long term problems, but he would have to start setting alarms during exam times to make sure he didn't slack off in the future.

Despite all that had happened this weekend, he couldn't help but be excited. He dug through his small closet searching for something to wear. He had finally scrapped up enough courage to ask a girl to dinner and he wasn't going to let anything get him down.

Uraraka was the most kind and sweet person he had ever met, and it didn't hurt that she was beautiful as well. When they were together his hands got sweaty and his head got fuzzy and according to Sero and Sato that meant he really liked her. They had told him the only way to get over that feeling was to ask her out, and he was honestly ready to start think clearly again. Although he didn't think they would ever let him live down one of the most awkward conversations of his life.

He settled on a nice blue button up shirt with khakis and loafers. He wasn't really up to date on style or fashion, but he had seen Aoyama wear something like it once and he seemed to know what he was doing when it came to clothes.

He took a few deep breaths before heading towards Uraraka's room. He hadn't had time to run into town for flowers, so he had picked a few from roses from the courtyard earlier in the afternoon and had meticulously picked off the thorns as to not hurt her hands. Hopefully Koda didn't notice a large disturbance in his garden, he would have to repay him later.

The door appeared before him while he was still lost in his thoughts, opening before he even had a chance to knock. His eyes met with a wall of pink.

"Oooh! Midoriya you look so handsome!" Mina cooed from the doorway, "Now you better thank me for helping Uraraka get ready because this masterpiece was my doing. She wouldn't let me put her in any of my dresses though."

"Your style is a bit too… intense for me, Mina…"

Mina pouted and stepped aside to reveal a blushing Uraraka. She was dressed in a ruffled pink blouse under a blue denim jacket and white jeans with ballet flats. Her hair was curled and up in a ponytail framing a face he almost didn't recognize.

"Mina really likes doing makeup," Uraraka laughed at his confused expression "I made her keep it light though! It doesn't look bad, right?"

"N-no, no no!" He immediately found himself turning pinker than Mina "You look fantastic! You look really nice with makeup." He paused a bit before realizing his mistake, "Not that you don't look good without it, just you look different, but it's a good different that highlights your eyes and they look nice and your face looks smooth but not that I want to touch your face but I wouldn't not want to touch you it's just that may be a bit weird and I do-"

"Deku! It's okay! Thank you, I understand" She looked down at the flowers in his hands, "Roses?"

"For you! Sorry if you don't like them, but I picked off all the thorns so you wouldn't prick yourself and get hurt!"

"Ugh, so romantic I'm either gonna cry or throw up"

The couple turned to their pink friend forgetting she had yet to leave. Izuku found himself turning more scarlet than pink.

"Mina!" Uraraka's pink cheeks started to match his own, "Come on, Deku, we have reservations, right? We don't want to be late!"

The brunette ran into her room and filled what looked like old Tupperware with water and placed the roses so they wouldn't fall before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the elevator.

They walked in silence for most of the way into town. Uraraka complimented him on his nice clothes and he struggled out a quiet thank you. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't far, and their arrival broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Todoroki told me this place has the best noodles in town, so I figured it would be a good place for dinner!"

The girl nodded while looking around. The restaurant was filled with cheesy décor and bright colors, but it was packed nonetheless. He hadn't asked for details about the restaurant, but he was beginning to think he was slightly overdressed. A waitress led them to a table close to the kitchen where it was the warmest and most secluded. She winked at him before taking their orders and leaving them alone again.

"How'd the exam go on Friday? I guess I never asked about it"

Small talk was not Izuku's forte, so he had gone over a list of things to talk about in his room before leaving. He was mostly relying on Uraraka being her talkative, sweet self.

"I think I did pretty well! I worked really hard studying and I think it's starting to pay off!" She smiled widely, making his stomach twist.

"W-well! Even if you didn't do well, you're still ahead! I'm pretty sure I saw people falling asleep!" He laughed nervously at his own joke.

"Yeah… I guess!" She smiled slightly.

That was not the reaction he was anticipating. He tried to analyze the situation briefly and decided on changing the subject.

"Man, it's really warm in here! How do you still have that jacket on!" He watched as her face returned to normal smiling Uraraka and he sighed a breath of relief.

"You're right, I'm practically sweating buckets already! I feel bad that you had to dress nice for me and ended up in long sleeves!"

"It's all right! I wanted to look nice for you!" He smiled at her as she went to remove her jacket. It faded upon seeing her arms covered in bruises and bandages. "You really should stop training with Bakugo you know, he doesn't know when to stop himself and I'm really worried you're going to get hurt. He is really strong and can do a lot of damage when he gets too passionate during a fight."

"I can take care of myself!" She snapped before quickly catching herself. "Sorry, I just think I'm getting in a lot of good training with him and I enjoy the challenge."

He nodded, "Just be careful." He trusted Bakugo to be a good hero, but he didn't necessarily trust him around people he cared for, especially someone like Uraraka. He wasn't even sure why they had been having such intense training sessions recently, but he worried constantly about Bakugo hurting her. She was way more fragile than the explosive teen.

The uncomfortable silence that hung in the air was broken by the arrival of dinner. He was glad that Todoroki's recommendation had such good food. He watched Uraraka slurp down her noodles happily and smiled.

"You know they announce the list of top students tomorrow… "He fidgeted slightly with his chopsticks. "They hold a gala where the top 3 are invited and I was wondering… If I'm in the top… Would you like to accompany me… As my date?" He could feel himself shifting uncomfortable in his chair.

"Why are you even questioning! Of course you will be in the top 3! Isn't that old news?!" She smiled at him and grabbed his hand to stop it from fidgeting slightly, "And I'd be honored to accompany the number one hero!" She giggled a bit before they settled into a more comfortable silence to finish their meal.

He felt pure confidence running through his veins, he even managed not to drop any of his money while he paid the bill, despite Uraraka begging him to split it evenly with her behind him.

They stepped out in the crisp air and he rushed to help her put her coat back over her shoulders. Their silence remained comfortable as they hit the outskirts of the city.

"The stars are so pretty tonight! The winter sky is always the prettiest." She craned her neck to look up at the sky while still walking forward.

"Mmhmm" He took her arm to help guide her while she enjoyed the view. He couldn't help but smile at her childish fascination with stars. She looked beautiful and delicate, he never wanted to let go.

"Sometimes I just want to float towards them… You know? Just weightlessly drift into the night sky, lulled by all the twinkling lights." She stopped walking momentarily and gave him a show stopping smile.

"Well, I-I guess I'm just pretty fond of the ground!" They both laughed a bit before beginning back towards the dorms. Uraraka kept her eyes towards the sky, the expression on her face unreadable. "You don't look happy, are you sad or something?" He rarely saw her without her signature grin, and wanted to make sure she was all right.

"It's nothing," She shot him a small smile. "I just get sentimental about stars"

"Well… If they don't make you happy, you can always stick to the ground like those of us who have to obey the laws of gravity" He laughed softly and reached for her hand, "Plus, I think I like you best when you're here with me…"

They both blushed, walking silently hand in hand the rest of the way home. She gave him a large hug as he dropped her off at her door, leaving him frozen momentarily outside in the hallway, oblivious to the world around him.

"Yo, Fuckwad, are you deaf or something? Get out of the fucking way! Or do you normally stand outside girls rooms and stare like a creep?"

Izuku cringed at the familiar abrasive voice before turning to find an angry Bakugo, followed by Kirishima. He moved closer to the wall to let them pass.

"How was the date Midoriya?" Kirishima had a large grin plastered on his face. He groaned knowing full well that Mina had probably told everyone already and he was in for lots of questions. He thought for a few seconds about the best way to handle telling people before settling on the truth.

"Pretty amazing!" He returned a large smile the the redhead who proceeded to give him a high-five. Bakugo seemed less enthused and continued walking ahead. Somewhere deep in his stomach he felt a protective surge of courage bubbling up and spoke before he could stop himself.

"You need to leave her alone, Bakugo." He watched his rival tense and stop. "You're just going to hurt her if you keep up like this. She is already covered in bruises! If anything happens to her I will personally hold you accountable!"

The blonde turned to face him slowly and Izuku noticed he was also sporting some large bruises on his arms. His eyes were pure fire and rage as he shot back at him quietly so only he could hear.

"I don't know what kind of fucking complex being the 'chosen one' has given you that makes you think you can fucking talk to me like that, but if you want me to show you exactly how much stronger I've gotten I'll gladly beat you to a fucking pulp."

Izuku barely had time to register his words before he felt the air leave his lungs. Bakugo's punch quickly brought him to his knees. He was expecting the second fist and caught it at the last second before it hit his face. He shoved back hard using a little more power than anticipated and sent the blonde sliding back. Izuku watched him use a small explosion to catch himself before Kirishima roughly grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey! Both of you cool it! We have class tomorrow morning!" Kirishima gave them both disappointed looks, making Izuku feel slightly guilty for letting Bakugo get to him. He tried to get up and found himself needing to rest for a second longer. He watched the blonde rip away Kirishima's hand and head for his own room.

"You know," He turned and gave what looked almost like a smile. "She can take a punch way better than you."

He disappeared behind his door before Izuku could respond. Kirishima came over to make sure he was all right.

"Sorry dude, he's been wound up tight lately. But if I know anything about the guy it's that he wouldn't train with someone he didn't think could handle it. It wouldn't be any fun for him. Uraraka will be fine… Probably" The redhead laughed before helping him to his feet.

"Everything all right out here?"

Izuku straightened himself quickly upon hearing her voice. He felt a sharp pain he was able to silently bear and gave a large smile.

"Everything is A-Okay! We just had ourselves a classic Midoriya-Bakugo moment. It's been a good while since I've seen one, I think I've had my fill for now though, night!" Kirishima laughed loudly before quickly making his exit. He always seemed to have a good sense for when to leave a situation and Izuku envied his social skills. Especially now.

"Did he hurt you? Do you need help getting back to your room? Do you want me to go beat him up for you?" Uraraka smiled, laughed softly and took his hand. "Seriously though, I will totally go get him for you!"

Izuku forgot about any pain the moment she grabbed his hand. He blushed at his own thoughts and started shuffling back. "No no no! Everything is fine! We are hunky dory! Promise! I just need a good night sleep! I'm so tired!" He yawned forcefully, "You are also probably tired! You should also go to bed. Good night, thanks again!"

He turned and began shuffling faster, leaving her, likely, confused. But his relationship with Bakugo was hard to explain without almost telling people too much and he hated hiding things from Uraraka.

He did have one thing right, the moment his head hit his pillow he immediately passed out. He had no dreams, just darkness, until his alarm pulled him back to reality. He headed to the showers groggily before remembering today was the day they announced the senior rankings. He added a skip to his step as he happily rinsed off, careful to avoid his tender stomach.

He knew loosely how the day would proceed. They would have morning announcements before class started, announce the top fifteen students across the intercom, and post flyers of the top 50 students throughout the halls. After morning classes, there would be a short ceremony congratulating the top three students in front of all the senior classes and All Might had promised to be in attendance.

The top three students would then accompany the heroes for whom they intern to a massive Heroes' ball. It helped to get their names out on the pro scene and get a bit of screen time with the media. It was a huge head start in getting a job as a pro, and definitely shortened the time it took to advance from a sidekick to a partner.

Well… As long as you were cordial and likeable. Izuku liked to imagine Katsuki Bakugo at the ball, being civil wasn't exactly his strong suit. Todoroki's father would be parading him about, no question he would be introduced to the best agencies out there. Just thinking about the whole affair made him almost laugh out loud.

"Midoriya! If you don't finish quickly, it is unlikely you will arrive to class on time."

Iida's voice brought him back to reality and he quickly finished washing and rushed to get out the door. The air around the campus was stiff and seemed to weigh heavily on the students. No one in the classroom spoke as he entered. Even Aizawa was on time. He was reading at his desk, no hint on his face about what the results were. He sat down

"Ugh. You're so lucky Midoriya." Sitting diagonally from him, Jiro turned and rested her chin on her hands. "I've been working my ass off for two years to try and squeeze into the top fifteen and you're almost guaranteed one of the top three. You must be so relaxed compared to the rest of us"

"I've been working hard too! And if by relaxed, you mean feeling super nauseous, then you got me perfectly." He laughed sincerely, feeling his stomach match his words. He did not understand how Uraraka dealt with this feeling on a regular basis.

"Not all of us can be Mister Stone Cold Chill back there." Sero pointed behind the three of them at Todoroki, who seemed to be casually staring out the window.

 _ **Good morning students!**_

Present Mic's voice boomed throughout the halls. All of the students rushed to sit down and an unusual wave of silence crept through the room.

 _ **As you all know, today is the day in which we announce the top fifteen students in our third year class! As I speak now, my fellow teachers are posting flyers throughout the halls with our top fifty students! No Peeking!**_

 _ **These spots have been decided based on recommendations from pro heroes, thorough review of performance and training by our very own business class, along with practical and written exam scores! Along with this, these rankings were also determined based on cooperativeness, likeability, and good old personality!**_

 _-Fine, I'll hurry it up…-_

 _ **Okay! The moment you've all been waiting for! Drumroll please!**_

 _ **Topping our list at number 15. Setsuna Tokage**_

Starting off with students in Class B, this would be a closer race than Izuku originally thought.

 _ **14\. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu**_

 _ **13\. Hitoshi Shinso**_

 _ **12\. Ibara Shiozake**_

He could feel the class stress level rise as no names from class A had been called. He couldn't help but smile thinking of Shinso for making the list. A quick look around wiped the smile quickly.

 _ **11\. Fumikage Tokoyami**_

The room erupted in cheers at the first class A name. Tokoyami blushed, but acknowledged the praise politely.

 _ **10\. Itsuka Kendo**_

 _ **9\. Eijiro Kirishima**_

Kirishima was not as subtle. He stood and bowed as the class cheered.

 _ **8\. Tsuyu Asui**_

 _ **7\. Kyoka Jiro**_

 _ **6\. Tenya IIda**_

The cheering only intensified. Present Mic seemed to anticipate this and gave a long pause before announcing the next name.

 _ **And for your top five students…**_

 _ **5\. Momo Yaoyorozu**_

He turned around to see Momo blushed heavily while the noise in the room intensified. She had been training furiously and with such a versatile quirk, he wasn't surprised by her high rank. He was curious to see who number four would be. He glanced at Uraraka who looked slightly crestfallen. He knew her name would be on the top fifty flyer, so he made a mental note to take her to see it and cheer her up.

 _ **4\. Izuku Midoriya**_

The room fell silent. He did not need a punch to stop breathing this time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Decided to split this chapter in half because it ended up too long, and it means I can post earlier. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 6-

 ** _4\. Izuku Midoriya_**

The room went silent. The entire class seemed to simultaneously turn to face him. Uraraka could hear her own heart beating, drowning out any other sound. He was just staring straight ahead. He looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach, unmoving, unflinching, not even breathing.

She felt so incredibly guilty. Seconds ago she had been upset about her own misfortune, but in comparison to this, they were nothing. She wasn't aiming to be the number one hero like he was. All she wanted was to help people, to make them smile, and to make enough money so that her parents wouldn't have to struggle to survive. But Deku was striving for the top, to change the world, and to be number one like All Might.

She glanced to the seat in front of him, expecting to see Bakugo relishing in his rival's failure, but the expression on his face was not happy. Was it pity? Disappointment?

 ** _3..._**

She didn't even register the next name. The world was still silent and the room was still focused on Deku. Bakugo glanced at her, she held his gaze for what felt like minutes.

 ** _2…_**

His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds longer before shifting to the back of the room. The entire class seemed to follow except Deku, who continued to stare ahead.

 ** _And your number one student is Shoto Todoroki!_**

She came to her senses as the class began hesitantly clapping. She joined and forced a smile to give Todoroki his much deserved moment. She glanced again towards Bakugo, who she knew was also vying for the spot. He was clapping, but she could see his face was twisted into a grimace.

"Congratulations, Uraraka! I must apologize that I was slightly shocked to hear you ranked so highly." Iida turned to face her once the clapping died down a bit.

"What?"

"Your number three ranking! I knew your test scores had been in the top percentile the last year or so, but I'm afraid I sometimes see you as more of a younger sister than as the hero you truly are. So I apologize!"

Her breath hitched as she realized what he was saying. Not only was she actually in the top fifteen students, she was number three! She felt excitement welling up in her stomach about to explode; until she realized the one person she would want to share in her happiness was the person she displaced. She must have mirrored her thoughts on her face, she felt Iida's hand on hers.

"I'm sure he will understand. Midoriya cares greatly for you, he will be as happy as I am for your success." He smiled at her comfortingly.

"And to your success, Iida! I'm so proud to have such strong and caring friends!" She squeezed his hand back, "I couldn't be happier."

Despite the confidence in her voice, she glanced towards the other side of the room to find Deku, still staring in shock. She felt guilt rise up again. The class began to stir as many students were nervous to check the flyers that had supposedly been posted during the announcement. She gave one last smile to Iida before standing up and using her position close to the door to be the first to exit.

She wanted to go comfort him, but she knew he needed time and the last thing he would want was to see her. She wondered if he would have been as upset being number three, if they could just switch, it would make him happy again. She walked with purpose, slipping between the students rushing towards the bulletin boards.

She heard Mina squeal behind her, solidifying her pink friend was in the top fifty. The laughing and giggling faded into sighing and crying as she ventured past the lower leveled classes. Not being in the top fifty made it difficult to find work in a solid company out of school, it could be devastating for those without flashy quirks or connections.

She found herself in front of the door to the staff lounge. She stood there for a second to gather courage before letting herself in. She looked around and was pleased to see a large majority of the faculty were present: Present Mic, Midnight, All Might, Ectoplasm, and even principal Nezu. They all appeared shocked to see her, rightly so.

"You have made a terrible mistake!" She could feel her hands shaking so she balled them into fists. "I can't be number three over Deku, you must have calculated wrong!"

Their surprise melted into a sad pity as they understood what she meant. She was so frustrated she could feel tears begin to form. She stared up into the ceiling lights to stop them from falling.

"I assure you Miss Uraraka, there were no mistakes made. The faculty and the business students worked diligently to create the rankings and much thought was placed into the order." principal Nezu was sitting closest to her, sipping tea and smoothing his own fur. He looked to the teachers present in the room, likely hoping to pawn her emotional state off on one of them.

All Might was the first to stand.

"Why don't you and I take a little walk?"

They avoided the hallways where students were gathering and he led her to an empty classroom. He patted the desk next to him and she sat obligingly. She wasn't sure what to expect from the conversation, but being alone with the former number one hero made her uncomfortable.

"I'd like to say I don't pick favorites among my pupils, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't especially fond of young Midoriya." He leaned back in the chair and stared out the window. "I would love to see him become number one, but I don't want to see him get there when he doesn't deserve it. The faculty agrees."

"But Deku is a-"

"A lot stronger than you. Yes. He punches and kicks harder than you ever will. But punching really hard isn't what makes a hero, not even battle strategy and instinct will make you one. If that were so, young Bakugo would have been number one. Being a hero is also about inspiring people, and knowing when to rely on others when you need them. It's about lifting others up, striving to improve, and having the humility to seek help when you really need it."

She stared at him not knowing what to say. What he was saying didn't really make sense, Deku did everything to help others and he was incredibly inspiring.

"Your face always gives away what you're thinking, Miss Uraraka. Young Midoriya does his best to help those around him, but sometimes to a fault. He tries to do everything alone, even when there are other incredibly capable young heroes around to help. It has been affecting his in-class performance as well. He is so scared to hurt his friends, that he doesn't give them a chance to practice what they are here to do." He turned around in the chair to fully face her, making her uncomfortable with the proximity.

"But you were the shock to all of us, Uraraka. Your scores have risen above the rest of your class, your battle strategies have become top notch, you train until you can barely move, but most importantly, you serve as a voice of reason with other students. The pros you have worked with have raved about your dedication and how having you around has made their missions run more smoothly and effectively. Honestly, that's what we'd like to hear about all of the students here at UA." He stood up and headed for the door. She took the hint and followed.

"Uraraka, this was not a rank you were given to spite young Midoriya. You deserve it. Now please hurry back to class before Aizawa gets mad at me for keeping you too long."

She gave him a smile and polite nod before heading quickly back to room 1-A. The hallways were mostly clear save a few stragglers searching hopefully to find names that were likely not on the list. When she arrived, she noticed a palpable shift in the class' mood. Mina grabbed her in a large hug the moment she shut the door behind her.

"We all did it! Every last one of us! All of Class 1-A made it into the top fifty!"

She laughed and let the pink girl twirl her around. "And I even managed to be in the twenties! Which is some sort of miracle with my grades!"

The class was enjoying the same level of enthusiasm. Poor Aizawa seemed to be hiding to cover his ears, seemingly prepared for this decibel level of celebration. She noticed Deku still unmoved from his seat, he seemed to have come to a bit more and was talking quietly with Sero and Tokoyami. They met eyes briefly, he smiled softly before looking away. She wasn't quite sure what that look meant, but she hoped it was positive.

The rest of morning classes felt forced. No one was able to focus on any of the math Ectoplasm was teaching, and he seemed to be distracted while teaching as well. Once the bell rang, the class eagerly prepared to leave for the ceremony. Their afternoon classes were canceled, meaning a half day to celebrate.

"Todoroki, Bakugo, Uraraka. You three will need to come with me."

Uraraka had almost forgotten the ceremony was to celebrate the top three. The thought of sitting in front of a large group like that and being recognized made her stomach lurch uncomfortably. She couldn't complain though, considering large crowds and camera would be part of her job description in the future.

Without speaking, Ectoplasm led them through the back hallways into one of the rooms adjacent to the courtyard where students were beginning to gather. She glanced at her two companions. Todoroki seemed unphased by the events of the day and gave her a small smile. Bakugo seemed to be, by the look on his face, verging on an angry outburst. She had a quick flashback to the awards ceremony in their first year and giggled before catching herself.

"Something funny, Round Face?" He snapped at her, glaring down what felt like almost physical daggers.

"Nothing!" She shrank under his gaze, thinking of something to change the subject. "I just can't believe I'm standing here with the two of you!" She smiled sweetly at him. She noticed his anger melted a bit and she felt a wave of relief wash over her. All the attention was enough to deal with without having Bakugo embarrass himself and her by attacking her on stage.

"I can." He shoved his hands into his pockets and cast his gaze towards the growing crowd.

She couldn't help but smile. Bakugo had a way of making her feel on top of the world. Probably because his compliments came so rarely, but she felt like he had been relatively loose lipped with them lately. Around her at least. She blushed a bit thinking about it. If she was being honest with herself, it was more than just how rare the compliments were, they were always powerful. It felt nice every now and then to feel strong and more like a hero than a damsel in distress.

"Thank you, Bakugo. I can't tell you how much that means to me." She received no reply from the teen. Looking for some sort of response she poked him childishly in the side, eliciting an angry, annoyed, noise. She giggled quietly, only succeeding in annoying him more. When he moved out of her reach, she noticed that his ears were slightly red. He was probably as use to people showing him, non-fear induced, gratitude as she was with being seen as a capable hero.

"Don't get used to it, Pink cheeks. And did I say you could fucking touch me?" His growing annoyance only made her laugh louder. She touched his arm with all five finger pads, playfully threatening an embarrassing entrance onto the stage. He gave a large grin as he pulled up his free arm, hand full of small crackling explosions. She had the feeling that if she floated him, she might also end up being launched in the air, much less gracefully. She grinned back at him with what she hoped was her most sinister smile, although she wasn't sure if that was even a look she was able to achieve.

It was weird to be joking around and having fun with Katsuki Bakugo. If anyone had asked her how she thought her day would go, she would have likely pegged Mineta making top ten above this.

"Well, if we can all manage to somehow control our teenage hormones, It's time to get on stage."

Why did it have to be him? Aizawa lazily passed them, avoiding eye contact as he opened to door to the courtyard. Neither she nor Bakugo could process any sort of correction before he was out the door and beckoning them to follow. She felt her face heat slowly, likely reaching what would be an incredibly visible full face blush. This was now the second time her teacher had somehow seen her in a misconstrued, compromising position and she was starting to think she would never be able to look the man in the eyes ever again. She glanced to Bakugo, whose face was also a diffuse pink, and also very plainly visible. People would likely assume she was just nervous, but he was going to get a lot of flak from the other guys for being embarrassed on stage. He likely wouldn't even be able to explain himself without making it worse.

They followed their teacher out onto the raised platform and took their seats behind the podium. The speeches given by faculty were short, and thankfully, not personalized. They discussed UA legacy and what the significance of the ranks meant, allowing her to zone out for a bit. She searched the crowd for any signs of Deku, but didn't see him. Probably not a good sign. All Might was on the stage with them, and by his expression, he had also noticed his special pupil's absence. Uraraka had hoped that All Might would talk to him before her, explaining things in a way that made her look less like a bad guy who took his rightful spot. He would probably be back at the dorms, she really hoped they could have a private conversation at least…

Her thoughts were interrupted by an elbow jamming into her ribs. She turned to Bakugo who was forcefully motioning her to stand up. She stood up quickly, tripping over one of the legs on her chair. She could hear the laughing before she even hit the ground. She figured that just lying there would probably be less embarrassing than getting up and facing the crowd, and we prepared to accept her fate. Instead of ground, she felt arms slide under hers, lifting her up to stand. The crowd's laughing almost immediately halted as Bakugo helped lift her up and glared in their direction. She waved sheepishly, remembering the event was televised and that she had already managed to make herself look stupid.

 ** _Our own number two student, Katsuki Bakguo!_**

She must have missed her own name being called, and with the announcer being that loud, she probably looked like a giant ditz. The best plan would be to just run away and hide her face from embarrassment. A sudden onset illness perhaps? Unfortunately for her, Bakugo held her steady, seeming to sense her desire to run. The crowd murmured more than clapped, not great publicity for him. She began clapping loudly, and turning to face the explosive teen, she gave him an exaggerated thank you and turned and gave a large smile to the students in the audience. The clapping intensified and she sighed with relief holding on to her large smile. If there was one thing Uraraka knew, it was how to be awkwardly charming. It came with having large, pink cheeks and a non threatening appearance.

 **And our top student, Shoto Todoroki!**

She clapped as Todoroki stood and bowed, causing an eruption of squeals from the younger girls in the crowd. He apparently didn't have to be awkward or friendly to be charming, just attractive. Boys had it so easy she thought, glancing to Bakugo, with a fuming scowl on his face. Well, most boys.

They all waved for a bit longer before being ushered back into side room. The crowd dispersed as teachers came back to offer more personal congratulations. They were mostly quick and painless, although Present Mic's was a bit loud and Midnight had to fight back very well rehearsed tears.

"Bakugo, my boy!" 1-B's teacher, Vlad King slapped him on the shoulder. Uraraka could sense some strain and watched from the corner of her eye while comforting a tearful Midnight. "Thanks to that girl over there, you somehow came off as charming!" He laughed, somehow unaware of his flirtation with danger, and since when was she just 'that girl over there?'

"Now if you could only be like that all the time, you'd be number one for sure. Maybe all you need is a girlfriend" He looked out at the room of teachers, all of whom were sharing Uraraka's uncomfortable expression. "Am I right?"

She glanced back to Bakugo, who was obviously fuming. She could see the sweat on his hands popping slightly, and it seemed so did everyone except Vlad, who kept his hand firmly on his shoulder. The blonde met her eyes briefly, she thought quickly, glancing towards the open door to the courtyard, willing him to just walk away. He met her half way, setting off an explosion that startled the teacher into jumping away, and stormed out of the room. Luckily the media hadn't followed them back this way.

"Well I've had my fill of media for the year, I think it's about time we all got some rest." Aizawa, sensing the tension, was already almost to the door himself.

The clock read barely past one, but no one seemed to question him and followed suit, leaving Uraraka alone with Todoroki in the room. They silently began the walk back to the dorms together. He normally would not wait for her, so she assumed he had something to ask. And she also assumed it had something to do with Deku.

"You also noticed Midoriya's absence from the audience today?"

Bingo. She nodded, everyone must have been looking for him, since they all assumed he would have been on the stage instead of her.

"It's unlike him to hide from a challenge. I'm worried about him."

She looked up at him. His brows were knit in concern and he was chewing slightly on his bottom lip. Not a face she saw him wear often. Although when it came to his friends, Todoroki was quite passionate and protective.

"Me too... " She paused for a moment to make sure she articulated her feelings as well as she wanted. "I spoke with All Might today, I told him that they made a mistake and should give the position to Deku."

"Oh?"

"He agreed with the rankings though. I'm worried he may blame himself and shut down… Or even worse, blame me…" She laughed softly at her own selfishness.

Todoroki only nodded, already lost in deep thought. Hopefully he could help cheer up Deku, but she knew she needed to speak with him first.

Upon entering the dorms she found the class gathered around Bakugo, much to his dismay. Upon seeing the two new additions, they broke out in even more cheering.

"Oh my God, Ochako, can you get any more freaking cute? The news reel was all over you! Next big thing for sure!" Mina ran up and hugged her.

"I'm really proud of you, Ribbit, you deserved this. I didn't get to tell you earlier." Tsu stood behind the wall of pink that was attached to her. She felt her eyes well up with happiness.

"You know, you could really give Bakugo a few pointers with the camera, with that scowl of his, what kind of hero agency would even approach him?" Kirishima laughed loudly, narrowly avoiding an explosion aimed at his head.

She searched the group of people, no Deku there either. Tsu caught her eye and nodded towards the kitchen area. There he was, alone, but close enough to still be apart of the celebration. Even sad Deku couldn't help but be there to support his friends. She sauntered over to him, it seemed the class had also gotten the vibe that he was not in the mood to talk, but she knew someone had to break the ice.

"Hi." She sat next to him, realizing too late she probably should have figured out what she was going to say before talking to him.

"Congrats!" he was obviously trying his hardest to put on a happy face. "Sorry I didn't make it to the announcement, but I saw the live broadcast."

"So you saw me almost fall on my face?" She pouted. She noticed him start to actually smile for real, it was possible the talk wouldn't be that bad after all.

"Yeah, Kacchan caught you. I'm pretty sure if it had been me up there he would have pushed me down harder." He laughed a bit. "He isn't exactly known for his chivalry, I wish I could see him try and be civil during the gala."

"Well, why not? Of course you'd be my date!"

"Uraraka…" He visibly stiffened. "I… I can't do that…"

"Why not?" His comment took her a bit off guard. She assumed it would be a given they would still go together.

"It would be really embarrassing to go as a date, it's like telling everyone I wasn't good enough to be there on my own."

"But it wouldn't be embarrassing if _I_ went as _your_ date?" She was being louder than she intended, but he had struck a nerve she didn't realize she had.

"It's different for you!" She could tell he was trying to backtrack. Good.

"No one expects anything out of you like they do of me!"

That was not a good backtrack.

She could feel the tears forming in her eyes already.

"You don't think I deserved to be number three, do you?" It was more of a statement then a question, and she knew his answer already. She could feel eyes on her, but she didn't care.

"It's not that… It's… I just don't understand how I was behind you!"

Ouch. She had her answer. Her tears started falling as she stood up. It was what she herself thought, she even asked to have it changed, so why did it hurt her so bad to hear him say it?

"I'm sorry you feel that way." She turned to head to the elevator. The room was so silent she could hear them all staring at her.

"Wait, Uraraka!" She stopped walking, frozen by his voice. "I just…" He looked down, visibly unable to think of anything to say. The hope that had briefly flared in her heart sank as she kept walking.

The elevator seemed to take forever to close as she watched Deku remain silent. When she got to her room the first thing she saw were the roses. Her chest felt tight, a tearing feeling ripped through her and she felt like she could either throw up, or scream. She grabbed the roses and threw them into the hallway. The lack of thorns only making her angrier that he considered her so weak that he needed to protect her from flowers. She curled up on her bed and pulled her blankets up high, ignoring the well meaning knocking that occasionally filled her silence. Despite how hard she willed it, sleep would not come.

The next three days went by as a blur. She somehow managed to will herself to go to class Tuesday morning. She got dressed like usual, put up her hair to keep it out of her face like usual, and plastered on her signature bubbly happy face for the world. The only thing out of place was the makeup hiding her new, large, dark circles. Maybe she was afraid of looking out of place with so many eyes on her, or maybe she was just expecting an apology, but by Wednesday, neither of those things seemed relevant. Deku seemed to be actively avoiding her, and as much as she ached to apologize and make things better, her pride wouldn't let her. If he didn't come to her, she would only be admitting he was right, and she wasn't quite ready to do that just yet.

She did still manage to train, alone. She went at night to avoid dealing with nosey classmates, although she did catch Bakugo once. He seemed to sense she wanted to be alone and didn't press the issue, thankfully. It could also have been that she looked like a crazy woman. Wrinkled sweats, long hair that she really needed to cut and wash hanging in a tangled knot, and dripping sweat as she punched the living tar out of one of the hanging bags.

Thursday was better. She was able to sleep finally, she managed to put her hair up in some semblance of structure, and she was back to smiling. Overall, she felt like she had gotten most of it out of her system, although one look at Deku and her stomach rolled again. He seemed completely fine, which probably bugged her the most. Like he had no idea what he said to her had hurt her. She still wasn't ready to cave yet though, the Heroes' Gala was Friday night and she was not going to let any of this ruin her fun.

Friday created a happier buzz. Pieces of the event would be broadcasted live, and the class was excited to watch in the dorms together. They even had a half day, meaning she had more time to prepare. She was almost giddy at the prospect of dressing up and mingling with the pros. She had one of her best dresses picked out and had asked Mina and Toru to do her hair and makeup. They were slightly more enthused than she anticipated.

"This is probably the best day of my life." Toru buzzed about different hairstyles, shoving random pictures into her face.

"You aren't wearing that dress." Mina said matter-of-factly, picking up her pink, ruffled dress and throwing it back into her closet. "And flats? Nope. I refuse to let you do this. Come with me."

"But those are super comfortable! And I don't want to be too showy or anything…"

"Girl, you have a boy sitting downstairs that you need to make jealous, comfort is irrelevant." The invisible girl grabbed her hand as they both led her to Mina's room.

They spent what felt like hours on her hair and makeup, and it look a small glass from Mina's hidden wine stash to convince her to put on the dress and heels she picked out. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at a girl she didn't recognize. Mina stood behind her, handing her a small golden clutch.

"I definitely lied before, _this_ is my real masterpiece." Uraraka stumbled slightly into her arms. "We have enough time to teach you how to walk in them, promise!"

She smiled at her friend, stealing another look at her own reflection. The girl in the mirror looked confident and definitely commanded attention. A perfect debut for the number three hero.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I may have gotten a bit carried away while writing this chapter so I apologize... But I've been building to it so I had a lot of ideas and feelings.**

 **I'm also thinking I may need to increase the rating to M, let me know if you think it needs to be upped!**

 **Chapter 7-**

Galas weren't his thing. Parties weren't even his thing. To be fair though, people weren't really his thing. Bakugo sat on his bed glaring at his phone as his hag of a mother could somehow be heard screaming from it after he tossed it across the room. The Bakugo family did not need speakerphone.

"YOU WILL WEAR THE CLOTHES I MAILED YOU OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL DRIVE TO THAT GALA AND FORCE THEM ON YOU WHILE KICKING YOUR ASS!" The sweet, loving voice of his mother rang out across his room as he took of his shirt and threw it on top of the phone. The yelling was followed my muffled discussion of what he assumed was his father trying to calm his mother down. Unsuccessfully.

"I SHOVED THAT LITTLE SHIT OUT OF ME, HE WILL WEAR WHAT I GODDAMN TELL HIM TO WEAR!" She came across clearly from underneath the shirt as well.

He walked over and silenced the phone. He would get shit from them later, but they could find out what he was wearing by watching a damn television. He kicked the unopened box from his parents under his bed and rifled through his closet for anything acceptable that wasn't from them. Out of pure spite more so than disliking their fashion choices. His mother had impeccable fashion sense, and his father worked in the industry, but pissing them off was more fun than playing along. The buzzing from under his shirt signaled she had accepted defeat. He knew he would be receiving a string of terribly written text messages over the course of the night. His mother was probably already a few bottles of wine into her ' _Gala Watching Party,'_ Also known as sitting with a group of drunk women and bragging about her son. He grabbed the phone to check, confirming his estimation on alcohol consumption.

'U R SCH A SHIT Y DID I BIRTH THE ANTIX'

Ah, lovely. Antichrist was one he hadn't heard before; she was getting more creative. The buzzing continued.

'DONT U IGNORE ME'

'I BET TODOROKI DRESSES NICE THATS Y UR #2'

'Ignore your mother, son. I'm taking her phone away. we love you'

He threw his phone at his bed. The fucking hag always knew how to hit him where it hurt.

It wasn't his clothing holding him back, apparently he wasn't fucking charming enough. Every teacher he talked to had said the same goddamn thing. Who the fuck wants a charming hero? Is charming going to save people from a burning building? He would have to ask the next person he saved if they were fucking charmed enough to live, or maybe they could just wait for the more charming heroes to come and die. He fell back onto his bed, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Being told you are talented enough to be number one, but not socially skilled enough to be seen as a hero really fucking sucked.

Rat Face Nezu had been the worst. _"We need our number one to be a good person. And we c_ a _n count on Mr. Todoroki to be th_ a _t_ and _represent our school well in public."_

Not a good person. That was the basic fucking tenet of being a hero. How could they think he wasn't a good person? He had worked his ass off to save people, to dedicate his life to the weak and helpless. If he made a bit of money along the way, that was no one's business but his own. He had also been trying his hardest to work well with others. He had teamed up with multiple classmates and done okay at not doing everything himself! He worked well with Uraraka…

That girl had so much charm it had to be some sort of fucking witch craft. She had almost fallen on her face in front of hundreds of people and somehow walked away more likeable then ever. She had even found a way to make him look kind of nice, even if only for a second. He didn't really know how, but somehow she had found a way to calm him down. Fucking witch craft.

To be honest, he actually enjoyed being around her, which is more than he could say for most people, and he was slightly looking forward to having her around during the gala, especially since she would now be Deku-less. Their very public falling out, as uncomfortable as watching it had been, had been entertaining. Watching the stupid nerd in emotional peril because of his own fucking ego had been the light in his last few days. The kid couldn't see two feet in front of his fucking face to see he fucked up big time.

On the other hand, watching Uraraka struggle with it was less entertaining. She was terrible at hiding emotions and just looking at her was like watching a depressing, angsty movie. He had also run into her training, he thought about saying something, but decided watching her beat the living fucking shit out of gym equipment was a better, more fun, option.

He pulled an older pair of dress pants out of his drawer and put them on. The hem stopped inches above his feet. It turned out that eighteen-year-old Bakugo was slightly taller than he was when he last dressed up in a suit for something at… Sixteen maybe? He groaned, grabbing the box from under his bed and ripping off the top.

The suit was expensive looking, dark gray with a vest and jacket. The undershirt was red and the tie was black and red, patterned with roses and thorns. There was a note attached, written in his mom's handwriting.

'To my prickly flower, you go kick ass and fucking impress people, you got that? I know you won't read this until you finally give in the day of the gala, so don't you dare embarrass me tonight. Love, Mom.'

So fucking witty, old hag. He picked up the tie and examined it. He could do thorns. The suit fit like a glove, along with the shoes she included. He sprayed some cologne to avoid smelling like a living bomb and ran a hand through his hair. It was passable. He felt odd meeting face to face with the top heroes without his costume, it felt unnatural. Unfortunately, there wouldn't be any fighting tonight, at least that would be something he was good at.

He made his way downstairs into the crowd of classmates sitting around the TV, it looked like neither Icy Hot or Round Face were there so he would probably have to talk to people.

"Damn, Bakugo, if hero work fails you, you know you could always be a model." Mina had come down after him and grabbed his arm.

"Shove off, Racoon Eyes." He gently shoved her away and went to stand near the door, unfortunately he was now the center of attention.

"You clean up good, man." Kirishima was the next to annoy him. "Make sure you drop my hero name while the lady pros fawn over you."

"Would they even recognize it? Sounds like a waste of their precious time to me." Bakugo smirked as he got a bat in the head from Kirishima.

"Kacchan… Have fun tonight…" So Deku actually came, he didn't think the shitty nerd would have the balls.

"No one asked you, Nerd, go wallow alone and…" He noticed the room get quiet before he could finish his sentence. They were all looking towards the elevator. Icy Hot had some girl on his arm he must have asked to go with him, and she was way out of his league. As they walked closer, the girl smiled, revealing large pink cheeks.

"Uraraka…" The breathy voice of Deku put a voice to his realization. If her intention tonight was to rub salt in the shitty nerd's wound, she definitely succeeded. She was wearing a long red dress and heels that placed her just a few inches shorter than himself. There was a large slit up one side and it plunged precariously low. Her hair was down in loose ringlets and reached down to her middle back. He glanced towards the boy beside him as she walked towards them, he was slack jawed and speechless. One look at the satisfied smirk on Uraraka's face told him this was the reaction she wanted.

"Bakugo, are you ready?" She walked up to him, purposefully ignoring Deku. He could definitely say as satisfying as this was for her, it was equally as entertaining for him.

"I am." He threaded his arm through hers, "You look beautiful tonight, Uraraka. I'm glad you finally agreed to being _my_ date." He said it quiet enough that only she and Deku could hear. If she was surprised, she didn't show it, giving him a stunning smile. He winked at his rival before heading out the door, leaving him in a wonderful mixture of angry and confused.

The moment the door shut behind him Uraraka broke into a large laugh, pushing him gently.

"That was mean on purpose, Katsuki!" He was taken back a bit by his first name, but found his signature scowl quickly.

"Of course it was on purpose, you gave me a good chance to piss off the fucking nerd and I was not about to let that one slip away."

"I don't want to make him mad! I just want him to think he made a mistake."

"He did make a mistake." They both looked over, he had forgotten icy hot was even there. "He thought himself better than others, which is the same trait my father had that ended in him alienating himself."

"I was going to go more along the lines of being born was a mistake, but I guess that works too." Both of them glared at him. "Hey, learn to take a fucking joke."

Uraraka smiled at him, "I know you're joking, but if I had heard you say that three years ago, I think it would have been true."

"Well fuck me for becoming better person or some sappy ass shit." He kept quiet the rest of the way to the car. Small flakes of snow had begun to fall and Uraraka was visibly shaking. Todoroki gave her his jacket because it turned out, apparently, sleeveless dresses weren't a practical early winter attire. Who could have known?

He felt slightly nervous as he saw the convention center draw closer and closer. It was some super fancy place; he had walked by it once or twice before. There were stone pillars, and large windows covering the walls of the main hall. He hid his feelings in a large scowl, feeling beads of sweat form on his palms. He had to somehow be likeable. Why did they have to expect so much from him?

Almost all the top heroes would be there, probably bragging about themselves and drinking heavily if it was anything like the previous galas his mom had forced him to watch with her and her shitty friends. Drunk heroes could be a real problem, so the convention center had a strict no quirk use policy or you'd be banned for life. Just another thing he would have to be careful about.

As their car pulled up, he saw the three pros waiting to escort them into the hall. There would be a large announcement congratulating not only the three of them, but the pros they worked with as well.

"Took you guys long enough, if this guy wasn't a human blow torch we would have frozen out here." Rumi glared at him. They had been working together for almost two years now and the lady had his respect. Plus, she shared his fondness of nicknames.

"Well if you didn't wear a goddamn miniskirt maybe you wouldn't be so cold, Ears." Not his most creative name, but it did its job annoying her. "Why can't you women just wear clothes that cover your bodies? Or better yet, just not complain."

"I give it 10 minutes in the hall before you can't stand how hot it is and take off your jacket." The dragon lady, Ryuko if he remembered correctly, was much more level headed than Rumi and therefore much less fun to mess with. "You look very lovely, Uraraka. I'm pleased that you were given the chance to come. Although I am not at all surprised."

"I guess I just got really lucky!" Of course she couldn't take a damn compliment. She smiled her signature large, goofy, smile. It looked slightly out of place with her current attire.

"Luck didn't have a damn thing to do with it, gravity freak there could be fucking lethal if she wanted to be." He started walking towards the entrance, assuming they would follow.

"I knew he had a mouth on him, but this kid never fails to surprise me." The human flame torch was criticizing him for language? It had literally taken him almost a year for the world to consider him a good enough person to not throw shit at him on the street after All Might retired. He glared at the ground, trying his hardest not to express his thoughts. "Now my Shoto… Bright, talented, _and_ respectful, you could learn from him, Bakugo."

Icy Hot shot him a look that probably was a mix between an apology and the fucking teen angst the half and half bastard had about his dad. He could feel his anger rising, keeping his cool all night with comments like this was going to be impossible. He felt a hand grab his arm.

"I don't know about that, I think both Todoroki and Bakugo are going to be pretty great heroes." Uraraka smiled sweetly at him, but the force of her grip was what was telling him to calm down.

The back entrance had a handful people waiting to greet them. A rather plump, dark haired woman came up to them with a tray of champagne.

"I must insist you drink; you all need something to warm your bones or you'll all catch a frost!" The woman was odd, she smiled stiffly at them until they all hesitantly grabbed a drink before making her way back to the main hall.

"You don't have to ask me twice." Rumi knocked hers back in one gulp. He sniffed before taking a large drink, expensive champagne had a weird smell. He didn't really care about the quality of his alcohol. Drinking too much made people lose muscle, and it seemed like a waste of calories to sit and sip the shit. He finished his own before noticing Uraraka dump her drink into a nearby plant.

"I'm pretty sure alcohol doesn't work like that." He loomed over her and she jumped slightly. She blushed deep red as she turned to face him.

"I just… After last Friday, the thought of drinking makes me kind of sick… But the lady seemed so nice! I don't want her to think I didn't drink it!"

"No kidding, I don't plan on dragging your ass back to your room again this time. Either way, those heels don't look alcohol friendly."

"Again? Were you the one who hel-" She was cutoff by the the plump lady yet again refilling their drinks and pushing them towards the designated stage area. Eighteen may have been the legal age, but this bitch was getting pretty loose with her pouring. The poor plant got another dose while the woman's back was turned, filling the remaining glasses. Rumi signaled a silent toast before they both tossed back their glasses.

"Tonight we have an extra special trio of students from UA!" The announcer was a woman he didn't recognize, who had, by the looks of it, had one too many glasses herself. "The number three ranked student is Ochaco Uraraka accompanied by the number eight hero Ryuko Tatsuma!" The woman stumbled towards them to clumsily shake their hands as the pair made their way onto the stage. There was significant clapping and some questionable whistling as the two waved to the rest of the hall.

"So, when did my little explosion lord find himself such a good looking girlfriend?" Rumi sidled up to him, invading all sense of personal space. He was so taken back by her question he was barely able to form a coherent sentence.

"What the fuck?"

"Don't try to play games with me, I see how you look at her." She jabbed him roughly in the side. He crossed his arms, turning away from her as much as possible.

"I think your confusing the look of infatuation with my look of not wanting to stab someone. I know it's not a look I show you too often."

"Fine, have it your way. Die alone for all I care. Ungrateful turd."

"The number two ranked student is…" The woman fumbled over what looked like poorly written note cards. "Katsuki Bakugo accompanied by the number four hero, Rumi Usagiyama!" They were pulled on stage by the woman, who gushed about his appearance for an uncomfortable amount of time. After it was evident the crowd was equally as uncomfortable she moved on.

"And the number one student with the number one hero, Shoto Todoroki accompanied by his father, Enji Todoroki! Both of whom are also very attractive if I do say so myself."

The crowed cheered as the pair ignored the announcer and walked to where the media had gathered. His phone buzzed in his pocket, he slid it out discretely to check.

'I WIN'

His mom had gotten her phone back apparently. He put it back in his pocket and moved his focus onto not talking in front of cameras.

"Miss Uraraka, we first saw you televised in your first year. Your match with Mr. Bakugo was not one viewers are likely to forget. How does it feel to have to be here with him after that brutal beat down?"

Was he never going to get to live that down? Take a fight seriously and the world gets on your back about it forever.

"He definitely did do a number on me," She smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "But if it wasn't for him, I would have never become as strong as I am today. So I guess I'm pretty lucky to even be here with him at all!"

The group began to nod and write. Many had recorders, nudging others to make sure they got the best sound clips. They reminded him of animals being herded. The room was already starting to get warm, and the mount of people surrounding him didn't help.

"Mr. Bakugo!" His plan to avoid talking had not worked. "Have you been working on your anger issues? How can the public feel safe knowing one of their future heroes can't even control his temper?"

He could feel his nails digging into the skin of his palms. Sweat was dripping from every pore as he felt anger boil up inside his stomach. Did they see him as some kind of monster? His vision felt blurry, were they right to think of him like that? He felt like he had made so many strides in the last few years, but did any of it matter if all they saw was the boy who beat up a 'helpless' girl on television?

Rumi shoved him quickly behind her as she took control of the media. He saw the door to a balcony in the back corner of the room which was cracked open and clear of people. He made his escape quickly, without turning around to see if anyone noticed. He found it odd that they would leave the large doors unlocked during such an exclusive event, but he was not going to question his small stroke of luck. The snow fell softly as he took a deep breath to calm himself. The balcony overlooked a small garden with a fountain, away from the city and the noisy streets. He looked up at a surprisingly cloudless sky for a night with snow, he could see the stars clearly and he could make out a few constellations. It calmed him for a moment. He could feel the sweat on the back of his neck begin to dissipate and his breathing became a bit less shallow.

"It really is a lovely night, isn't it?" The sound of heels clicking slowly on the ground had alerted him to her presence before she had spoken. "The stars are so bright and crisp from here, they make you wish you could just reach out and touch them"

"I always used to dream about using my quirk to blast up there. Get the fuck off the ground for once and be up there near the stars."

"Are you sure you didn't drink too much already?" Uraraka took the position next to him, leaning her forearms against the railing. She smiled at him.

"I'm trying my fucking hardest here to be open with you, Round Face! Because I'm apparently not a good enough hero unless I'm happy and friendly all the fucking time. Did you just come to rub salt in my wounded pride after my failure in there?"

"I don't think it was a failure, you managed to get away before saying anything that would have been, truthfully, justified for that question." She bumped his shoulder slightly. "I've thought about it too before, you know. Just floating away and being up there. I guess we both have quirks that would let us do it, but we both seem to stay on the ground for some reason."

"Tch"

"For what it's worth, I think you're already a great hero." She turned around to lean her back on the railing and rubbed her arms a bit. Snow had speckled her hair and lashes and she had to blink repeatedly to remove them. "You always manage to save people when and how they need it most, even if it means you encourage them to get up and save themselves." She laughed loudly, it echoed in the night air.

"Not everyone needs to be saved. Some people just need to get off their asses and do it themselves."

"You kind of helped teach that to _me_ if I'm being honest with myself." She suddenly stood up straight and grabbed his shoulders. "So let me teach you!"

"Did I say you could fucking touch me?"

"You agreed to help me train to fight better, so let me help you be more charming! Just for tonight!" She grabbed his hands excitedly. His deep scowl did not seem to deter her. "You won't have to do much, just avoid having your face look like that."

She pointed at him accusingly and he couldn't help but laugh at her. Even when she tried her hardest, Uraraka could not look intimidating. But if she was going to do most of the work, he really didn't have anything to lose.

"What the hell, why not. I'll definitely need another glass of champagne to go through with this though."

Almost as if summoned by his words, the plump woman appeared at the door.

"Have another drink you two! And do come inside, it is very dreadfully cold out here!" She handed them drinks and he lifted his glass to toast as the woman sauntered away. He downed his drink as Uraraka tossed hers onto the snow dusted tile.

"Looks like you're out of plants." He smirked at her as she used her shoes to shove more snow on the puddle.

"There! All better!" She slid her arm through his and he pulled back immediately. She placed her free hand on her hip and glared at him. "Look, you're going to have to work with me here. You don't have to be friendly and talkative to be liked, just be approachable. Since you are none of those things, I'll be them for you. People love an aloof bad boy! Just… not one that will eat their heads off. So let me do the talking." She forced her arm through his once more as he begrudgingly agreed, and led him back into the warmth of the hall.

If this was her idea of paying him back for training with her, he owed her way more sparring sessions. Uraraka led him up to different groups and did all the talking, only requiring him to grunt and smile occasionally. She would dig her nails into his arm to make sure he was paying enough attention and even told light hearted stories of their exams and training at UA. She took him near cameras, but never directly to the media area, for which he was grateful. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason he felt light, a bit dizzy, and almost happy being toted around. It was possible he really did drink too much, or possible that getting something out of putting in almost zero effort was satisfying? Either way, he avoided any more glasses from the pushy drink woman who seemed to be making constant rounds.

Uraraka was rosy cheeked and all smiles the entire night, even though she hadn't had a drop to drink. Being awkward, friendly and outgoing came incredibly naturally to her. All the pros loved her, and one or two had asked if she wanted to dance, although she kept saying no.

"You know you can go dance with those guys if you want. I'm not a fucking purse you have to sit and watch all night."

"It's not that I don't want to…" She paused, a blush creeping up her neck towards her cheeks. "It's just that I'm terrible at it, and that's not the thing I want everyone to remember about me tonight! I trip over myself when I try without heels! Imagine the giant mess I'd be with them!"

He groaned and held his hand out to her. She looked at his hand and then up at him like he had two heads. "My mom forced me to take stupid fucking dance lessons as a kid. I'll lead."

She smiled brighter than he'd seen all night as she took his hand. He led her to the corner of the dance floor away from the pros, who looked way too drunk on champagne, spinning around recklessly. He placed her hand on his shoulder and his own on her hip and took her free hand in his. He guided her through a basic box step until she got the hang of it. The smile never left her face for the three or four songs that they danced in circles. The light, dizzy feeling he had had earlier came back stronger and felt like it was getting worse, but she looked so happy he felt too guilty to stop.

Fucking Katsuki Bakugo enjoying a dance with a girl at at stuffy ass party. Who the hell was he? He looked down at her as the last song ended the smile still on her face as she looked back up at him. The dizziness and lightheadedness got stronger as he dropped her left hand, placing his right on her shoulder. A strange feeling of euphoria hit him as he stared at her. Her smile faded as she stared back, obviously confused by his actions. Hell, he was confused by his actions. He felt like he was having an out of body experience, watching himself move his right hand to her cheek. She made no move to stop him as he lowered his head slightly. What the hell was he doing? He felt almost out of control as he moved closer. His lips brushed hers lightly, her eyes widening at the realization of what was happening. He closed his own and deepened the kiss, missing her reaction, but she didn't pull away, and he didn't want her to.

He heard the quick shutter of a camera near him, breaking his trance slightly and causing him to realize what exactly he was doing. It wasn't clear to him if he somehow pulled away or if she had pushed him, but they were both now back in the present and very aware of what had just happened. They stared at each other, her eyes were misty and confused.

"I… I'm sorry.. I don't kno-"

 **SMASH**

His apology was interrupted as he felt the floor beneath him begin to shake and toss them both to the ground as dust filled the air. He got up slowly to look around, still feeling dizzy. The west wall of building was gone and replaced with rubble and shards of glass. He looked around and found Uraraka a few feet away, already on her feet and looking around. She seemed to be moving faster than he was, running into the rubble to free trapped heroes, heels already left behind. He was surprised by the lack of response as he looked around. Most of the pros were barely off the floor and looked more dazed and confused than himself. These were people who should have been bouncing off the fucking walls to take on the next battle! He felt himself wobble slightly as he scanned the room for familiar faces, he saw Rumi passed out on a table surrounded by alcohol, not a new look for her, but based on the number of glasses next to her, she should still be awake and kicking. He swung to the south side where they had entered to secure the closest exit.

He spotted the plump woman standing near the door, smiling as if nothing had happened. Next to her he noticed one of the large plants near the entrance had somehow shriveled and withered away. It hit him hard. The plant Uraraka had her dumped her champagne glasses into.

"Shit." He slowly turned towards the west wall and located her. "Uraraka! The drinks were drugged!"

It didn't take her long to realize the situation. She was possibly the only hero in this building who was completely coherent at this point. She pointed him towards the door to the kitchen, throwing a weightless, unconscious hero towards him. He caught the girl in his hands, recognizing her as Nejire Hado, one of the heroes who also worked with the dragon lady, who he had been introduced to earlier in the night. He ran into the kitchen, looking for an exit or somewhere safe to lay her. The only door he found was locked, he immediately blew off the lock with a blast much larger than intended, stepping a few feet back in recoil. His quirk wasn't working right, his hand already ached. He swung open the door to reveal a stairway out into the cold, but no safe place to hide the girl. Shit. His brain was too jumbled to think of what do…

A banging noise coming from the freezer in the back of the kitchen pulled him out of his thoughts. Fuck. He couldn't handle ferrying people out and fighting right now. He set Hado down before turning to the door, planting his feet more consciously to avoid even more damage to himself. He blasted the door and it fell in front of him, revealing a half-frozen, tied and gagged version of the plump woman. Fuck fuck fuck. She was still moving, terrified, eyes searching him frantically to see if she could trust him.

"It's okay," he said slowly approaching to untie her. "I'm a hero. Someone did something to the drinks, no one is able to function right." He struggled over his words, realizing he wasn't going to be able to do this alone. "Can you help me get them all out of here?"

The woman rubbed her wrists without speaking and nodded. He led her back into the kitchen to where Hado was and ran to get more people.

"Wait!" The woman called weakly. "She was blonde… She… She took my blood…"

Fuck. That was enough information to tell him who was behind this. He ran back into the hall and saw Uraraka fighting two men he didn't recognize, she seemed to have the upper hand from what he could tell. Some of the heroes who likely drank a bit less were firing long distance shots when they could to aid her. He ran over to a group of confused people, some holding multiple other unconscious victims in their arms. Some were heroes, and some likely just guests and staff. He led them to the kitchen and the fat woman directed them to the wine cellar beneath the building. The woman appeared stronger and more confident as she hurried them down the stairs, hopefully they didn't draw enough attention to bring the fighting to the weakened guests.

Some of the more conscious heroes joined him in evacuating, many stumbling around like him, others joined pockets of fighting. He saw half and half and his dad engaged with the burned bastard from the league, confirming who was behind this. Todoroki was stumbling around, at least careful enough to stick to his ice side to avoid burning the place down. Endeavor seemed to have handled the drug better, but was still obvious altered. With how large he was, Bakugo had hoped he would have tolerated it for a bit longer, but it didn't seem to spare anyone.

"Hey! You're that Bakugo kid, right?" He swung around to see a few people from the media teams hiding near the still intact east wall. He jogged over to make sure they were okay.

"Quiet the fuck down or you'll draw attention to yourself" They looked scared, but not altered. "You don't look like you guys were drinking on the job, but it's still too dangerous to be here. That door over there will lead you to help." He grabbed the shirt of one of the larger men, shoving him lightly towards the door. Most took the hint and ran, two remained, one with a large camera on his shoulder.

"Mr. Bakugo, why aren't you joining in the fight?" The dude obviously wanted to die, and whether it would be the league that would do him in or Bakugo himself, he wasn't sure. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, and tried to explain to situation since it was likely being broadcast live.

"Look. Anyone who had anything to drink tonight got drugged somehow, including me. And it's messing with my quirk, which if you remember from scolding me earlier, can be really brutal." He recognized the man as the one from the beginning of the night, and was starting to wish he had punched the fucker in his face then and there. "As long as there are people like you staying in here for no reason other than some sort of sick death wish, I can't use my quirk without knowing I won't hurt civilians."

"But this is the greatest story we've had in years We can't afford to miss it" The camera man was apparently also an idiot.

"What's more important to you? Getting good footage or fucking surviving long enough to leave this damn place alive?"

That finally got the point across it seemed. The camera man positioned his camera on a nearby chair. "Hopefully we can get some footage even if we leave." Bakugo tried to make a mental note to 'accidentally' destroy it if he could.

He ushered them gruffly to the kitchen before making one last visual sweep of the room. Everyone who wasn't able to fight at least a little seemed to have been cleared. He stuck his head back in quickly and yelled to the woman to shut the doors and not open them until the police and other heroes arrived.

Uraraka had managed to take down the two men by the time he stumbled back into the center of the room. She had tied them up using neck ties before tending to the wounds of those who had gotten hurt. Her dress was ripped to pieces as he noticed red bandages distributed among the remaining heroes.

"The league." He barely managed to get the words out loud enough for her to hear. She nodded and jerked her head over to where a few other groups were fighting.

"Kurogiri keeps bringing new villains in at random, and Dabi is still fighting with Todoroki and his dad. You see anyone else?"

"Toga is here somewhere." He saw her shiver at the name. They had history, and it wasn't pleasant. "No Shigaraki so far."

She seemed to calm a bit at that news. His quirk would not bode well for all the people becoming more and more altered. He noticed some of the heroes who had been previously helping were slowly losing the ability to stand. It did cross his mind that the drug could be fatal, but he had pushed it to the back of his mind to deal with the issue at hand. He felt his vision blur as he wobbled slightly.

"Bakugo…" Uraraka, barefoot and clothes tattered, ran up to help support him. Struggling with their newfound height difference "Are you okay? You need to get out of here and get help, we don't know what this stuff could do to you!"

He gave her a crooked smile, "As long as I'm still able to stand, there's no way in hell I'm leaving. We've still got to find the crazy bitch."

As if on command, portals of purple mist opened up around them. Low life thugs began to pour out, and he heard Toga's cackling and a scream in the distance. Fuck. They nodded at each other before running towards separate groups.

There were about a hundred or so in total, his mind was foggy, but he still felt confident in his battlefield assessment. Most had knives, likely indicating lackluster quirks. They seemed to be uncomfortable running in packs, meaning they probably weren't used to working together and would most likely run at them one at a time at first. With the two of them and the five or so other heroes still standing in the main area, it wouldn't be impossible to take them all down.

He was right about the coordination. They came at him in basically a straight line, obviously unfamiliar with his quirk. He landed an uncontrolled explosion on the first one to reach him, knocking himself back on his own ass and taking out the first seven or so men. The one who he had hit first was burnt and bleeding heavily. He looked down at his hand that was stinging and slightly scorched, and back up at the man. He wasn't going to be able to hold back his explosions to not be lethal. He looked around, making sure he was a good distance away from Uraraka and the others before standing up and walking towards the confused group of remaining men.

They had enough sense to ditch the straight line tactic and come at him from three different angles, two from each direction. He planted his right hand towards the ground, grabbing his wrist with his left for support and waited for them to get within about three or four meters of him. He let go a deafening blast, knocking back the six men and shooting himself higher into the air than he anticipated. Realizing quickly that he wouldn't have the coordination to land without doing a number on his legs, he made a last minute decision and blasted himself even higher. He was able to barely grab the large chandelier hanging on the ceiling, and shimmied his way up to the top. His blast had left decent sized hole in the floor that had consumed a large swath of the men. Good. If he was going to destroy his hands, he could at least take these mother fuckers with him. The jacket he was wearing was singed and torn, his mother would probably be pissed at him, if he made it out of this alive. He went ahead and ripped it off, freeing up his movement a bit more, and tossed it towards Uraraka. He was hoping to get her attention, or he'd be stuck there helplessly watching the entire fight. The ceilings in the place were huge, probably 15 to 20 meters minimum, meaning without good accuracy with his explosions, a fall from this height could possibly kill him, and she was his only safe way down.

She was using the ceiling height to her advantage, tossing the men up and letting them fall. She was calculated about it, none of them hit a lethal height. Which was impressive with the amount of men she was dealing with. If she saw his jacket, he couldn't be sure, but the thugs were slowly pushing her underneath him. She was only able to touch and float so many and long range attackers were causing her to retreat more and more. He noticed the men he left behind had begun to move their focus to her, likely planning to hit her from behind.

"URARAKA!" His voiced sounded slow and muffled, but he managed to bark out her name. One glance up was enough for her to see a potential escape. She launched herself towards him, reaching out for his hand He grabbed her, brining her to the safety of the support chain. The chandelier was metal and crystal, likely measuring about 4 or 5 meters in diameter, and had enough surface area to protect them from ranged quirks. The crystals were large and sharp, and looked precarious enough he hoped they were smart enough to avoid lobbing attacks their way.

Unfortunately, he had overestimated their intelligence. One of the men, likely with a strength quirk, launched a large piece of tile up towards them, shaking the chandelier. They grabbed the chain and each other tightly as it rocked back and forth, releasing one of the crystals and stabbing the same man in the chest, pinning him to the ground. Uraraka hid her face in his chest. As good as she was with dealing with the sick and injured, causing fatal injury was a different story.

The group of men and women below decided on a more cohesive, but still illogical approach. Some had firearm quirks at the ready, and were looking for good enough vantage points to shoot. One of them, who apparently had an earth quirk, was working to build a ladder away from where the dying man was pinned, as the other 40 or so gathered around it, prepared to either climb or provide support. He looked at her and then the chain, waiting for her confirmation to his silent plan. She looked down and nodded reluctantly. She grabbed him around the waist, as they began to swing the chandelier back and forth towards the group below. He trusted her instincts more than his own at this point, and when his weight left him, he knew they had swung enough.

He blasted the chain, sending them weightlessly tumbling back, and sending the giant chandelier crashing down on the group below. The screams were piercing as the crash echoed throughout the hall. They banged against the ceiling a few times before she managed to get her footing and kicked off, sending them gliding to the ground. She returned their gravity at the last minute, causing them both to roll a few feet but remain generally unscathed. The remainder of the men turned and ran, apparently not expected this much of a fight.

He stood up and tried to gather his bearings, he could feel his mind becoming more and more fogged with each passing minute. The smoke that seemed to be filling the room was not helping as he noticed blue and red flames had engulfed the south side of the building. Fucking Todorokis. It was becoming thick enough that he barely noticed the purple misty portal.

"Mmmmmmm, it's been too long." Toga appeared near the fallen chandelier. Her cheeks were blushed with some sort of sick, perverted joy as she bent down and ran her fingers through the pool of blood that was forming under the wreckage. "You made such a pretty mess just for me! Unfortunately, this is not the blood I'm interested in tonight."

"What the hell did you do to all of us!" He commanded more than asked. She had not begun to move towards them just yet and he was keeping a safe distance.

"You didn't like my special cocktail? We made it ourselves, I bet it made you happy, Katsuki." She began walking slowly towards them, splashing the blood with her feet. "Are you happy to see me? Shigaraki doesn't much care for you, you know. He told me if I saw you I was allowed to do whatever I wanted with you… and since it seems my dear Izuku isn't here like he was suppose to be, there are a lot of things I want to do to you."

"You came here for Deku?" Uraraka sounded almost scared to ask.

Bakugo wished she had kept quiet. He did not want Toga's attention on her. They had met a few times in the field the last few years and she had a sick obsession with torturing Uraraka.

"You look so pretty tonight, Ochaco… Your skin is so white and creamy… Do you think your prince back home would mind if I sliced it up? Would he still love you then?"

Uraraka was sheet white as she began to back up slowly. He could feel the bile rising in the back of his throat at the imagery. The explosion happened before he even registered moving, speeding him towards the fucked up freak. He was on top of her, his vision a flurry of punches and explosions. A sharp, intense, pain in his leg brought him back to reality. He saw the handle of a dagger protruding from his thigh. Fuck. He had been careless and let the bitch fucking stab him. He blasted himself back, leaving her battered and with one less weapon. The pain was incredibly intense, bringing him to his knees. Blood was gushing from around the blade, and he was beginning to feel dizzier than before.

"Bakugo!" She was on him in a heart beat, helping him sit more comfortably while watching the giggling Toga begin to pick herself back up. "It hit an artery. If you don't close the wound soon…"

He could take a hint at what that meant, but he had no intention of being taken out by some C-rank villain. He pushed her back before removing the knife and placing his hand over the wound, letting out what he hoped would be a small explosion. The pain was beyond anything he had ever been able to inflict on himself in the past, and his is vision streaked white before he was able to come to and register his work. The wound was oozing and scorched, but it didn't look deadly. Uraraka smiled at him, tearing a chunk of her now thigh length dress and wrapping it around his leg.

"You know my cocktail makes people feel things more intensely." She was walking towards them again, her face burnt and bleeding. "Happiness… Pleasure… Passion… Pain…" She drew out the last word, answering his questions as to why his explosion had hurt worse than usual.

"But something is new here… You know… I don't like sharing, Katsuki, and I don't like the way you're looking at that other girl."

A loud creaking, rumbling noise stopped her in her tracks, pulling their attention to the west wall. Large chunks of the broken ceiling came raining down, dropping massive debris on the multiple remaining groups of barely conscious heroes.

"Fortune favors the wicked." Toga's smile grew large and maniacal as she watched the heroes struggle with the heavy debris.

"You need to go save them." He knew Uraraka's quirk would be able to free them faster than anyone and with Dabi and possibly other villains out there, they couldn't just let them be sitting rocks.

"I don't think you can take her alone in your condition…" She put her hand on his shoulder, silently begging him to let her help.

"Ugh. Ochaco, why do all my favorite boys like you? I'm so jealous! That's why we're best friends!" She had started walking towards them again. He shakily got to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg begging him to stay down.

"She doesn't love you _or_ Izuku like I do. She's just going to leave you… Or let all those people die."

"It's a hero's job to save people, and I can fucking handle myself, now go!" She nodded at him before bolting off towards the rubble. His vision began to blur, making one Toga into four. He didn't want Uraraka to go. He was fading faster by the minute, and unless some sort of miracle happened, he would either be unconscious or dead before the end of this fight. But heroes don't prioritize their own safety over the safety of many. And heroes don't lose.

The four Toga's in his vision began to reach into their pockets and each pulled out a red vial. He rubbed his eyes to bring the number back to one and watched her drink. She began to mold in front of him like gray mush, he knew her quirk well enough to know this wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him. Pink cheeks and a large goofy smile were staring back at him, causing him to take a step back.

"Do you like me more now, Katsuki?" She had her voice and everything. "Will you be happier if she is the one that kills you?"

The Uraraka clone ran at him, knife in her right hand as she pulled out a pipe from her backpack with her left. He could see a flash of metal at the end, likely a needle. Fucking great. He dodged as she ran at him, hitting an explosion on her hand to try and get her to drop the knife. No luck. He had half expected her to float him, he would have to be careful not to assume she would fight like Uraraka.

The bitch kept getting up no matter how many explosions he landed, meaning he was getting weaker. One of his normal blows should have obliterated her. She distorted Uraraka's face into a twisted malicious grin he was sure the actual girl's face wasn't physically capable of. The smoke was getting thicker and his eyes blurrier as he relied on pure instinct to help him dodge. He was getting progressively slower, and the knife was slicing him shallowly more often than not.

She had had a vial of Uraraka's blood ready for the night. He wondered if that was their plan to get fucking Deku. He probably would have fallen for it too. His mind began to wander more as he felt his leg give out, sending him to the floor. His shoulder stung as the needle hit him from behind, knocking him onto his chest. He could feel the blood leaving his body, it was a strange sensation. Was this it for him?

"You know you're just my type, bleeding and dying… And now I get to have your blood inside of me!" Her shoes came into his vision, he reached out and grabbed her ankle, slowly summoning the last of his strength for a blast, he needed to stall…

"Will… They survive…?" He at least wanted to know all this wasn't in vain, that they all wouldn't be killed anyway.

"My little potion isn't poisonous!" She giggled and dropped to a squatting position, knife dripping with his own blood. He willed his hand to explode, but he needed longer. "They won't die… Probably. But you will."

She raised the knife out of his view, prepared to strike. He was begging his sweat glands to function. He heard the sound of her hand begin to fall and dug his nails into her skin.

"BACK OFF!" Uraraka's punch came out of nowhere and slammed into her cheek, sending the look alike flying out of his grasp.

He might have laughed if he weren't in so much pain. Uraraka essentially just punched herself clear across the room. He watched helplessly as Toga found the second knife he had pulled from his leg on the floor and ran at Uraraka. They gray sludge began to melt around her as the blonde returned to her regular form. He may have failed, but Uraraka easily had the upper hand in the fight, even without a weapon. After landing a few brutal punches, she sent the girl flying to the ceiling screaming for help. He could see panic in Toga's eyes as she continued to get higher and higher. She desperately threw the knives, a stupid move that Uraraka would easily block.

He realized too late to try and move that the knives weren't meant for her. He didn't even know if he could move. Time seemed to slow down as the metal came hurtling towards him. It was possible he would survive, depending on how long it took for backup to arrive. He had too many regrets to try and think of them all, so instead he closed his eyes and braced himself.

The pain never came. He opened his eyes to see red. The red of Uraraka's tattered dress as she hovered over him, and the red of the blood dripping from her arm. She had jumped in front of him and taken both hits.

"Why…?"

"Heroes save… _Everyone…_ " She smiled at him, blood beginning to trickle from the corner of her mouth. She'd spent too much time around fucking Deku. She was hurt bad, but not fatal. They were going to make it out of this alive, he felt almost giddy, but it could also be the drug.

"You got into the middle of my fight," he weakly smiled at her, "I had things under control."

Toga's scream as she fell back down to the ground was satisfying, but he never heard the thud of her body hitting the floor. He turned his head to see the girl in the arms of the burnt bastard. Fucking Todoroki's not finishing what they started.

"Time to stop playing with your food. Reinforcements broke though and we have to get out of here." He looked up at them before setting Toga on her feet. "If we can't come to him, we will make him come to us. Grab the girl while she's down, we need her alive."

A man he didn't recognize stepped out from a newly formed portal and grabbed Uraraka, dragging her by her wrists as she fought as best she could with her wounds.

"Bakugo!" She reached her hand out for him, eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry…"

"Uraraka…" He reached out to her weakly, trying to somehow bring her back as she disappeared into the mist. He could barely move. She had apologized to him and he had let them take her. What kind of hero was he?

The world was completely fuzzy as he heard voices all around him. There were familiar shapes and sounds asking if he could hear them, could he feel them touching him, and to squeeze their fingers. He felt them lift him, the voices sounded nervous and scared, but he could only make out bits and pieces; 'Worst attack in…' 'No civilian casualties except...' 'Is he going to make it?' 'We don't know…'

He remembered crying and bright lights, and then nothing but darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter was originally meant to have two POVs, but ended up getting way too long! So here is part 1. Hopefully part 2 will be done very soon and this one helps clear up any confusion from the hectic last chapter!**

 **(Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Your comments help me make things better!)**

Chapter 8—

' _It's been less than 24 hours since the massive attack on the Heroes' Gala left hundreds hospitalized and left our city without it's main source of protection. Petty crime has skyrocketed, calling many older pros out of retirement.'_

 _'Well Hana, the police force has been working double duty and has actually begun to employ UA students with licenses to help patrol streets.'_

 _'We've all seen the footage hundreds of times by now, Reo, but I think after seeing what happened for themselves, having those students around will probably make criminals think twice before breaking the law.'_

 _'We can definitely agree on that one, Hana. It appears now that we have new reports in from local hospitals stating many of the heroes affected by the drug are beginning to wake up, and it appears without any long term complications.'_

 _'Thank goodness, it looks like our city will be back to normal in no time at all!'_

The last 24 hours had been the longest of Izuku's life, and he had doubts to if Musutafu would ever return to normal. He hadn't stayed up with the class to watch the gala, or maybe he could have made it there…

He had gone to bed early and was woken up by pounding on his door, he made it down just in time to see the blurry, off centered shot of Kacchan lying motionless on the ground and Uraraka being dragged away. His legs had carried him to the hospital before the ambulance even arrived. Aizawa had met him at the door, holding him back when he saw his childhood friend's beaten body. They had had to put a tube down his throat to help him breath and he had looked so unlike himself, so frail.

He had attempted sleep in the waiting room with Bakugo's father. The hospital was crammed full of people with varying levels of consciousness and they kept being brought inside every few minutes the entire night. Most of the hospital beds were taken by those who had ingested whatever the substance was at the party. Many of the heroes who had tried to rush to the scene were also injured, so there were multiple beds to a room and the hallways were packed as well.

After all the chaos had died down, they had learned more about how exactly the whole thing had happened. Someone had slipped inside undetected and posed as wait staff, based on the footage and reports, it was likely Toga. They had drugged not only the alcohol, but also the entire piping system for the convention center, and since it mimicked the effects of intoxication it had gone mostly ignored. There were still crews out testing different water treatment plants to make sure they were safe before lifting a city wide boil order.

The actual attack was still under investigation. Since he hadn't been able to sleep, Izuku had scoured the internet for eye witness accounts and watched all the footage from the fight on repeat. New information was being updated by the hour, allowing him to build a rough idea of what had transpired. There had been an explosion on the west side of the building, demolishing the wall and allowing Dabi and a handful of underlings enter. Todoroki and Endeavor had occupied the former villain, while the latter group unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the rescue effort for those hurt by the explosion or incapacitated by the drug.

It wasn't clear if the explosion itself was someone's quirk, or if bombs had been placed prior to the event. He hoped it wasn't a new villain, or they would be up against someone with abilities that could likely rival Kacchan's in pure power. There were a lot of quirks in play that he did not recognize, meaning the league had been doing a lot of recruiting.

While the UA students seemed to be fighting solely inside, most of the action had taken place in the surrounding area. A barrier quirk had been used to erect a neon green, permeable, circular dome around the building and gardens, leaving anyone who passed through unable to use their quirk for almost half an hour. It was a devastating ability, which probably contributed to most of the pandemonium that ensued. It was not without its flaws though. From his observations of helicopter footage, he had seen the person use it twice. The man or woman was heavily clothed, possibly meaning there was a physical trait that could easily identify them. The height of the wall appeared to be inverse to the diameter of barrier, and it did not affect those who could jump over or dig under. It also seemed that to activate the quirk, the figure had to be a part of the wall, and was unable move outside it for the duration. Based on how heavily he was guarded, he was likely not very physically strong, making for a good target in future attacks.

Izuku had been compiling all the data into a notebook, and had filled 5 pages with details about the barrier user alone. His hands were stained with ink, and he had streaks across his face from rubbing his eyes until they were red and raw. He needed to be prepared for his next move, and he had no intention of letting this assault go unanswered.

Kacchan was in the ICU, one of nine or ten heroes that had been critically injured. The waiting room was full of weary loved ones, all of whom were either sleeping fitfully or glued to the news like he was, desperate to learn more. Some looked just as prepared for revenge as he did. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He needed to learn more before he could strike back, and he couldn't let his emotions get the best of him. He glanced over to the seat beside him at a sleeping Masura Bakugo, who had been relegated to the waiting area while Mitsuki had taken the sole chair available in her son's hospital room. He tried to relax, stifling a yawn. It was long passed dark, and he was already on the verge of having yet another sleepless night. He buried himself back into his notebook, focusing on the other villains he was able to identify.

Most of them had been low level thugs. Thieves and mobsters, people who had likely never had to face against an all out assault before and it was obvious. It was the few with sophisticated quirks with whom he was preoccupied. Kurogiri had been outside, only recognizable by the purple mist that ferried groups of men in and out of the building and barrier. Shigaraki had been there too… With low level heroes unfamiliar with his quirk, many had lost limbs to his disintegration, just watching had caused Izuku's stomach to roll with nausea. He had been consistently flanked by a man and woman he didn't recognize, one with a basic strength quirk, and the other with what appeared to be bat-like features. He could have mistaken her for a model if not for the large wings of loose skin sprouting from her back and bat-like ears. Her quirk seemed to be high frequency vocal patterns that did massive damage, and she seemed able to pick out even quiet movement and direct her attacks appropriately. He compared his sketch of her to the screenshots on the television. She had dark skin and long, thick, dark hair that helped to conceal her quirk's physical attributes. The wings on her back had stayed folded under her for most of the battle, he wondered if they could actually be used for flight or to attack. She seemed to have qualities similar to Jiro, and he would have to remind himself to talk with her and gather insight on possible weaknesses.

The last person of interest he had noticed was a grotesque being whose gender was impossible to determine. The _thing_ appeared to look more like a spider than a person. It had almost translucent pale skin, with one set of arms and hands, and six 'legs' that ended in sharp, knife-like, points. It was almost two meters high, and each joint appeared disfigured and bulged out of the skin at odd angles. Even with the distance of the helicopter camera, Izuku could see the thing looked like it was in pain. He would have felt bad if not for the havoc caused by it's quirk. Like a spider, the person was able to create large, sticky, barely visible strings that ensnared heroes, leaving them unable to run away after discovering they had lost their quirks.

He closed his notebook and tried to block out the images for a moment. He was surprised that none of the heroes had been killed, although the injuries were nothing to laugh at. Some of the top heroes had made it outside the main hall to fight, even while severely altered. Ryukyu, Hawks, and Mt. Lady were just some of the top heroes that kept fighting until they could barely move. They kept the damage from spreading, but a lot of the injuries on the front line were people coming from the outside in.

Most of the incapacitated heroes and civilians from inside the building had taken shelter in a wine cellar, and never even encountered the villains. Many of those who had been hiding reported it was Kacchan that had helped get them to safety, despite ingesting the drug himself. Katsuki Bakugo had helped saved hundreds of innocent lives instead of fighting, it wasn't a statement that was easy for him to wrap his head around. Although he was proud of his childhood friend for saving people, he had left Uraraka to handle most of the fighting alone. He couldn't help but feel like Bakugo was partially to blame for her being taken. She had almost gotten killed because of him, and Izuku wasn't even sure he knew what her full name was.

He put most of the blame on himself, however. Had he not been so embarrassed, he would have been there with her and been able to save both of them. He also couldn't help but feel selfish. It was possible that his last encounter with Uraraka could actually become the last time he would see her alive. He had made her so upset and angry that she had sought comfort from _Bakugo_ for Pete's sake _._ Maybe he really was to blame for all of this…

But there had been something else that bothered him. The villains had acted in a concerted fashion, which indicated the attack had been premeditated and planned very thoroughly. But he did not understand their objective. If it was to kill, they could have created a more powerful poison, but he supposed that it would have been noticed much earlier and affected less people. Heroes were already beginning to awaken after just 24 hours, meaning any goal they had that required a lot of heroes out of commission would have needed to be completed by now. Plus Uraraka… It had only been decided she would be there s few days before the event, and there was no way they planned the attack in that time. So why did they take her of all people? It had been public knowledge the top three students would likely be Todoroki, Bakugo, and himself. It didn't make any sense…

 ***Beep Beep Beep***

He frantically grappled with his phone to silence the text notification. It was already three in the morning. He had been lost in his own thoughts for hours.

'Todoroki is starting to waking up, you should head down. He is asking about Uraraka and Bakugo and I don't know what to tell him. Room B223 –Momo'

He jumped up with a jolt. It was the most exciting news he had gotten in weeks. He tucked the blanket around Mr. Bakugo's sleeping form before sneaking out of the room towards the elevator. Todoroki's room was in a different tower, so he needed to make his way down to the first floor. The entrance was packed with friends and families overflowing from other waiting rooms. He didn't bother looking for familiar faces, most of his classmates were out patrolling with the remaining heroes and police as part of a city wide plan to deter would be criminals. Aizawa had told him to stay at the hospital for his own well being, he had objected the special treatment at first, but after not sleeping for two nights now, he was beginning to agree.

Yaoyorozu on the other hand, had spent all morning patrolling in order to spend the night at the hospital with Todoroki. She had been working to become more efficient in the creation of medical supplies for field work, but Izuku had the feeling this was more emotional than educational. He didn't really dive into his classmates' relationships, but the two of them were closer than he and Kacchan, and yet he couldn't force himself to leave his childhood friend's side. He didn't blame her for wanting to be close by through all of this.

The Todoroki's had gotten a full suite, likely due to their last name, but it gave them a bit of privacy and a reprieve from the prying eyes of the media. His knock on the door was greeted by an enthusiastic Fuyumi, as she ushered him inside. She and Natsuo, whom Izuku had only met a handful of times, appeared overjoyed that Todoroki was awake.

"Yaomomo told us you would be coming down," Fuyumi gave him a large hug. "I know this has been just as hard on you as it is for us, and I'm glad you're here for Shoto."

He glanced to the bed next to his classmate which was completely still, save the ebb and flow of the monitor proving the man was alive. He didn't know if he could be this happy in their position.

"And Endeavor…?" He was hesitant to ask, but they seemed very comfortable answering.

"Doing better." Natsuo walked over and clapped his father on the shoulder. "It takes more than a bit of liquor and fire to take out the old man. The doctor said he would likely be up and around soon, but the burns he got dehydrated him a bit and it will take a bit longer to flush the stuff out of his system."

He turned his attention to Todoroki's beside, where Yaoyorozu sat in a chair, looking much more nervous than the two siblings.

"And Todoro… I mean Shoto?"

"I'm doing fine I think." His voice was quiet, causing the three of them to crowed beside his bed. "I did not drink very much, luckily. And between Endeavor and my ice, I was protected from the worst of Dabi's fire." He pushed himself into a seated position with the help of Yaoyorozu. "I can guess by everyone's silence that the night did not end in our favor."

"Well… There were no casualties, which is a silver lining. But Bakugo is still in the ICU upstairs in the other tower. And Uraraka was…" He could bring himself to finish, he felt tears well up in his eyes as he rubbed them once more.

"Taken." Yaoyorozu finished for him.

He watched as Todoroki processed what he had missed, his hand clenching the sheets. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more, Midoriya."

"No, no, no! you're fine! Whoever planned this attack did so meticulously. They were prepared for everything. Except Uraraka I guess…"

"How is Bakugo's condition? Is he improving?" He silently thanked Yaoyorozu for helping him change the subject.

"Well, the doctors have been trying to explain, but it's kind of out of my realm of expertise. They said the next few days will be touch and go. He is still using a machine to breath and he apparently lost over two liters of blood. They said it's a miracle he is even alive."

"Well that's Bakugo for you, stubborn as they come." She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Have they transfused him with blood, yet?"

"I think so. They have him hooked up to cold bags and he's on a lot of cooling pads to stop him from sweating. Apparently the drug reacted badly with his quirk and his body isn't immune to it like it normally is. The nitroglycerin in his body is doing weird things to his blood vessels? I wish I could explain it better."

"Well maybe it's for the best. You know Bakugo better than all of us, and you know the moment he opens his eyes he will be out for revenge."

She wasn't wrong. He was beaten by a mid tier villain and it was broadcasted live. Drugged or not, he was going to be embarrassed and out for vengeance. He had seen Bakugo bloodthirsty before, and he would likely tear down anything to get back at them, even at the cost of Uraraka's safety. There was a beeping noise from the other bed in the room, calling Fuyumi and Natsuo over to their father's side.

"So what's our plan?" Todoroki whispered, his eyes were filled with fire.

"Well, the last time the three of us planned something like this we ended up saving Bakugo from the league. How much harder could this be? Maybe I should call up Kirishima and Iida just for old times sake." She laughed quietly. He couldn't help but smile, it was ironic that it was the three of them there.

"Absolutely not." Aizawa strolled into the room followed by Detective Tsukauchi and Chief Tsuragamae. "I can sense the three of you plotting something stupid from a mile away."

"We came to speak to the young Todoroki." The Detective glanced towards the bed holding Endeavor and his other children.

"We can take a hint! It's about time we grabbed some food anyway." Natsuo and Fuyumi bowed politely and quickly left the room. He and Yaoyorozu stayed rooted to their spots. Neither of them had any intention of leaving.

The Chief sniffed about in his usual fashion, "We intended this conversation to be alone, but I have a feeling if we don't share it with the two of you as well, you will end up doing something rash."

He was talking to both of them, but staring intensely at Izuku. He held up his hands in defeat and sat in the chair next to Yaoyorozu.

"We were hoping you could provide us with any extra insight into what happened Friday night. Possibly any words exchanged with the villains or any actions you might have considered odd?"

Todoroki thought for a minute before answering. "Not really… He taunted and berated us, but that is not out of character for him. He did look around a lot, I'm not sure if he was assessing how the others were doing or looking for something. I lost consciousness before the end of the battle so I'm not sure. I wish I could be of more help."

"Thank you, every little bit helps." The Detective finished writing and placed the pad into the pocket of his trench coat. "We have video clips to go off of, but no audio. It's frustrating to be in the dark like this with our star witness in a coma."

Izuki cringed, he had momentarily forgotten about Kacchan's condition and labeling it as a coma seemed a lot more real.

"As I'm sure you've gathered based on the size of that notebook, Midoriya, there are a lot of things that don't add up about the night." Aizawa was getting straight to the point. "We've not heard from the league regarding Uraraka. No ransom, no trade deal, just silence. It seems unlikely that she was the intended target based on our history with them, and we have no leads as to where she could be. At this point, we have no information telling us if she is even alive."

The gravity in the room seemed to double as he processed the possibility that they would kill Uraraka. He had worried about her being hurt, but it had not crossed his mind she might not make it out of this alive. His classmates looked equally shocked by the statement. People died in battles all the time, but Uraraka wasn't even a full fledged hero yet.

"I need to go protect her!" He stood up suddenly.

"No. What you _need_ to do is start acting like a real hero." Aizawa put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back into his chair. "This is not something you can do by yourself, Midoriya."

The comment stung, but he kept his mouth closed. How was he supposed to be the number one hero if he couldn't even save the girl he…. He didn't know how to finish the thought. Were they anything? Just friends? Was she his girlfriend? Could the possessor of All for One even have a relationship like that? All Might sure hadn't even said anything about it, and he had never had any relationship that he knew about. Did it even matter if he couldn't save her and she never came back?

"Ready to join us again on this planet, Midoriya?"

He looked up to see Aizawa staring at him with an annoyed expression. Everyone else seemed amused. He had been muttering to himself again… How much had they heard?

"We have commissioned all listed investigative heroes to search for Uraraka and any sign of the league in a 500km radius of the point of capture. As of now, as we mentioned before, we have not learned anything of value. The police force is putting out a hefty reward for her safe return, but the league has never lacked for money in the past and will likely not comply.

"For now we are staying hopeful that they plan to use her as some sort of bargaining chip, and she remains unharmed. We need to be patient for now and wait for their next move." The Detective seemed to sense his apprehension.

"I know it's difficult, but this is the best way to ensure we keep our losses to a minimum and to learn about their plan. We will keep you updated." He pulled down his hat to shade his eyes from view before walking out, the Chief on his heels.

"Remember, Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, there is still class tomorrow and I expect you both to be there." He gave them a forced, sad, smile. "The life of a hero means you have to continue living your life, even when it's hard. Because the world needs you to."

The three of them didn't say anything more about what had happened. Todoroki offered him one of the chairs in his room on which to sleep, but he turned him down. Notebook in hand he headed out of the hospital just as the sun was beginning to rise. The air was crisp and cool, causing him to pull his jacket a bit tighter. He really didn't know where he was going, but his legs carried him back his house. He had felt a large need to see his mom after their talk with his teacher, or maybe it was seeing Endeavor lying in that bed alone. She began crying and smothered him with hugs and kisses the moment she opened the door.

When was the last time he had visited her? It must have been months.

Seeing the bags under his eyes she guided him to his bed and he did not have the will to resist her. She pulled the drapes as he lied down, blocking out the first rays of the morning sky. It was beautiful outside. It was so hard to imagine his world had been ripped apart less than two days before.

He knew Aizawa had been right, but how do you go on everyday knowing your friends could be hurt, scared, or… Dead. He forced himself to think the word he had been avoiding. He had had people in his life die before, he had even seen people die before. Mentors, colleagues, but never his friends…

He glanced around the room at his untouched figurines and posters. All of All Might smiling and saving the world. Maybe that was why All Might's circle of friends was so small, dealing with loss was painful. And those around him tended to get hurt…

His eyes shot open as he gathered his thoughts. Did Uraraka get taken because he had One for All? Were they out to hurt him by hurting her?

It was a plausible conclusion, he was supposed to be the one at the gala, not her. Had they gotten there and realized their plan was flawed? Was taking her a last minute decision? If they had taken her to get to him, she just had to be alive! They wouldn't dare hurt her and lose their chance at him or All Might.

The thought comforted him slightly. His mind began to swirl with all the possibilities of how he could get her back until he thought of nothing at all.

He had apparently slept for almost twenty-four hours. He awoke to light streaming on his face and the smell of food, there was a tray beside the bed with his favorite breakfast. His mom would always shape his food into shapes when he was younger, and the steaming miso soup and heart shaped toast almost made him feel like a kid again, if just for a bit. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten, and the food tasted like heaven. He would have to leave early to run by the dorms to change and grab his books before class, so he finished quickly and stumbled around for clothes. He met his mother in the kitchen and enveloped her in a large hug. He towered over her now, and she seemed so frail.

"I don't know how you manage it, but you always know how to make things better."

"You'll understand when you have kids of you own, Honey." She reached up and pinched is cheek before sending him off.

Kids of his own… Based on the extent of his knowledge of the One for All predecessors, the only one that had ever had children was All Might's mentor, Nana Shimura, and she had to give him up for his own safety. That did not turn out well for the world. He had always assumed eventually in his life he would have kids, but as long as All for One, or even his ideology, existed, Izuku would never have the normal life he had once pictured. He smiled to himself sadly, knowing that even if he had understood that from the beginning, he would not have changed a thing.

He didn't run into any classmates in the dorm, and by the time he got to the classroom, everyone was already there. No one looked up at him when he took his seat. The room felt heavy and everyone looked tired. Most had been out on patrols for the weekend, and by the looks of it, had not slept much either. He glanced around the room, at the three vacant desks. The room felt empty without Kacchan yelling or being able to steal glances at Uraraka, and even the absence of Todoroki's calm presence seemed to leave a big hole in the atmosphere.

He wasn't really sure what was taught that day, but he remembered Midnight crying in the middle of her lecture. Present Mic had accidentally called out Uraraka's name during his Enlgish class, causing Ashido to excuse herself to the bathroom, only to come back half an hour later with swollen, red eyes. The final bell couldn't come fast enough, he left straight from the school to walk to the hospital. Kirishima, Tsuyu, Iida, and Yaoyorozu followed behind him silently the entire way to the hospital.

"Sorry I'm not very talkative today, guys. I just have a lot on my mind. You here to see Todoroki?" He held the doors as they followed him into the hospital.

"Don't worry about it, man! Yeah, we agreed to visit in smaller groups so we wouldn't crowd the room. Plus, I figured I'd stop by and try to knock some sense into Bakugo, you know?" Kirishima smiled hopefully, following Yaoyorozu and the others to the south tower.

He figured he may as well head to the north tower first to warn Bakugo's parents that he may get visitors before stopping in with Todoroki. The first thing he saw getting off the elevator was Kacchan's parents talking to a doctor, they were both crying, he sped up his pace to catch the last bit of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, we've done all we can at this point. The ball is in his court now, if his body can regain immunity to the nitroglycerin from his quirk within the next day or so, he will be able to come out of this. But if not…" The doctor didn't have to finish her sentence to get her point across. They were both crying, trying to hold composure but failing. Upon seeing Izuku, Mitsuki began crying more, pointing to her son's room for him to visit.

He could feel his own eyes begin to water as he entered the room. If Bakugo had been awake he would be berating him for it, hiding emotions wasn't his strong suit. He sat in the chair beside the bed, grabbing the boy's cold hand and bringing it up to his own forehead. He sat silently for what felt like an eternity.

"Come on, Kacchan," His tears were flowing freely now. "You can't go! I can't lose you _and_ Uraraka!" He closed his eyes and gripped the hand tighter.

A sharp pain in his hands stopped his tears temporarily, he must have been squeezing too tight and cut himself on one of Bakugo's nails. Another sharp pain caused him to drop the hand completely. Not just any sharp pain, it was a small explosion! The small pops continued, gradually getting more and more intense. Monitors began beeping wildly as the previously comatose boy began moving his arms and becoming aware of his surroundings. Izuku realized that the oxygen being pumped into his lungs might not be a good combination with the growing explosions.

The nurses were in the room before he could call for help. They were twisting dials and barking orders.

"You, boy! Hold him down!"

He did as he was told, taking a few small burns to his wrists. He was lucky Bakugo had been in bed for a few days or he would have been too strong to restrain. His red eyes were darting around the room, settling right on Izuku. One particularly sharp explosion caught him in his left wrist, causing him to recoil instinctively; giving the explosive teen enough time to reach up his right hand, pulling out the tube in one go.

"Who…" His voice was hoarse and forced.

Another nurse ran in to help hold him down, but his eyes never left Izuku.

"Said you.. could fucking… touch me…"

He couldn't help but cry, and somehow laugh at the same time. The nurses managed to remove the oxygen out of the blast radius, and he seemed to be saturating just fine with out it. He could hear Bakugo's parents running down the hall. He bent down and gave him a tight hug as the boy fought against him.

"Fucking… Nerd…"

Bakugo was back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry this one took so long, guys! It was surprisingly difficult to get through this one, but it ended up being decently long I think!**

 **Let me know what you guys think and help me make this better!**

Chapter 9-

Crying. Everyone was fucking crying and they hadn't stopped since he had woken up. They had moved him to a new room and his stupid hag of a mother had almost gotten kicked out of the hospital for hitting him and screaming while they rolled him there. Apparently, almost dying and scaring her half to death was his fault.

He _had_ almost died. The doctor had explained to him that his body had somehow lost immunity to his quirk and he had basically been in a coma for three days.

The shitty nerd had barely left the entire time. Like some sort of fucking martyr or some shit. The news was playing in the room, showing glimpses of the attack. After threatening him, Deku had explained what all had happened Friday night. The drug, the barrier, the new villains, and Uraraka.

He remembered her. His dreams had been nothing but purple mist and her figure being dragged away from him, calling his name and begging for him to help her. Over and over until he had wanted to scream, but he couldn't speak or move. It was like his dreams had some sick prerogative to drive him insane reminding him of his failure. Thinking about her made his chest tighten and his body ache for some reason. He knew people got hurt and killed in the field all the time. Hell, the league had taken him hostage before and it hadn't made him feel nearly this bad. But this time it had been his fault. He had let her be taken. She had begged him to help her and he couldn't.

He didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it. Well, they weren't giving him a lot of time to dwell on it. The dog-faced police Chief and Detective Trench Coat had not taken long to figure out he was awake. They had barged into his room, kicked out his parents, and let fucking Deku stay.

"Bakugo, we would like to talk to you about what happened on Friday." Trench Coat sat on the corner of his bed while his hound remained standing and seemed to glare at him.

"Like I have a fucking choice. If I try to leave they are going to shove me full of drugs until I end up in the fucking psych ward. Pretty sure the old hag out there encouraged them."

"This is a serious matter, Bakugo." Of course the man with the face of a dog would be the one to tell him to be serious.

"Calm down, Lassie. I'm the one who almost fucking died, I know we aren't fucking around here. But I just recently ripped a tube out of my own throat and it hurts like hell, so if we could speed this up that would be great."

The dog-man grumbled and crossed his arms, letting Detective Trench Coat continue. "We need you to tell us if Toga mentioned anything to you during your fight about their motives or goals."

"All I know is they were looking for fucking Deku." The two men looked surprised, but the shitty nerd didn't. He assumed that would have been an obvious statement. If an eighteen-year-old shit head could come to that conclusion before two grown-ass men, he did not have a lot of faith in their competency. "Not really a surprise, even _he_ made that conclusion already." Bakugo jerked his thumb towards the chair next to him.

"I mean… I just assumed… I had no proof so I didn't say anything… I was the one slated to be at the gala, not her. I can't imagine them taking her hostage off the cuff unless it was to lure me in…" Fucking Deku being nervous for no goddamn reason.

"We haven't received any information about her location or any trade deals that could lead anyone to the girl. They don't seem like they want us to find them." Dog-face was getting on his nerves.

"When the league took me, Shit face here tried to help without asking for professional backup. A few teenagers are much easier to take on than an entire police force plus pro heroes. My guess is that they will try to lure him to come alone if at all possible."

"But what would they want with Mr. Midoriya?" Dog-man was obviously unaware of the shitty nerd's relation to All Might. The room got quiet as he tried to think of something to say. Stupid pain medication.

"I think we have everything we need for now. Thank you Bakugo. We will inform the media that you are no longer in critical condition but are not well enough for visitors." The Detective bowed and left with a confused Lassie on his tail. So Trench Coat knew his secret. He glanced over to see the boy looking shocked and confused. Shitty nerd had no idea that Trench Coat knew either.

"That was a close one!"

Bakugo decided to ignore him and turn the volume up on the television instead. If they were going to tell the media how awesome he was, he wanted to see it. It took ten minutes of actively avoiding fucking Deku's attempts at friendly bonding before anything about him came up.

 _'We have just received word that one of the students from the attack, Katsuki Bakugo, is now in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery.'_

 _'Well isn't that good news, Hana, that young man is truly a hero. He saved hundreds of lives that night, and all while fighting off the same drug that took down even the best of the pros.'_

 _'As of now, we continue to have no news on his classmate, Ochaco Uraraka, who was the only abduction by the league of villains.'_

The picture they put up stung. It was of the final moment he had seen her, off centered and fuzzy, but unmistakable. Deku tried to reach for the remote to change it, but he snatched it away from his grasp. He wasn't listening to what they were saying as he tried to make out the grainy image of Uraraka being pulled away while he did nothing. Her expression was hidden in the poor image quality. He should have fucking blown up that camera when he had the chance.

 _'-not really sure, Reo. It's always a tragedy to lose such a young, promising hero, but to see lovers being ripped from each other's arms like that just tears your heart in two.'_

Lovers? Who? He had only zoned out for a second, what the hell had he missed? The door to his room opened, interrupting his thoughts, and revealing a group of smiling students led by Shitty Hair, who had somehow found out his room number. He bet the hag and his old man had had something to do with it. Their smiles faded upon seeing fucking Deku, who looked like he had seen a ghost and then been slapped by it. He traced his gaze back to the television and found himself face to face with a moment he had forgotten about in all the chaos.

Bakugo was rarely embarrassed. He occasionally did things some would consider embarrassing, but there were very few situations that cursing and glaring had not been able to get him out of. This was one of those situations.

The picture on the TV was not grainy like the previous one had been, but it did still contain Uraraka and himself. He had one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek as he had pulled her closer. Both of their eyes were closed in the photo and the moment came rushing back to him. He had kissed Uraraka. He had enjoyed kissing her, he had not wanted to stop, and from the looks of the photo, she wasn't trying to pull away.

He could feel the back of his neck heat up slowly, and it felt like the photo had been there for hours. Looking at it made him feel almost nauseous, but not sick. His head felt light and his chest tightened, but he couldn't look away. It wasn't until the screen panned back to the two news anchors that he realized he hadn't been breathing.

"Damn, Bakugo." Kirishima broke the thick silence that had filled the room.

"Katsuki Bakugo! Did you defile out sweet, innocent, Uraraka?" Of course Glasses had to fucking be there.

"What the actual fuck! Do you think I am some kind of rapist or something?"

"I am just informing you that up until the gala, our Uraraka had never even kissed a boy!"

" _Our?_ Do you fucking own her? And what kind of girl waits until she is eighteen for her first kiss?" To be fair, it had also been his first kiss, but that was his own damn business. What hero had time for shit like that?

"I think we all need to stop for a second, Ribbit." Frog girl smiled at him. He couldn't tell if it was a pity smile or not, but it pissed him off all the same. Between her, and Kirishima holding down Four-eyes, the room finally calmed down.

"Why…" He said it so quietly Bakugo almost didn't hear him at first. "Why would you do that, Kacchan?" His head stayed down with green hair covering his eyes, but he could tell the shitty nerd was about to cry.

"I was fucking drugged, Shit-head. I don't care about her or anything like that. Round Face just happened to be there and I just fucking felt like doing it." It wasn't a complete lie.

"I knew it. You just did it to be mean to me, didn't you? Because you know I care about her you just wanted to take something away from me!"

"What if I did?" He knew he shouldn't push him but it just came so naturally.

"She's a human being, Bakugo! One that could be hurt or dying and you don't even know her actual name! If you had even cared a little, you wouldn't have let her get hurt like that. I wish it had been you that had been taken! You deserve to be with those people!"

He ran out of the room like a preteen girl with Four-eyes chasing after him. Shitty hair gave him a fucking disappointed look before following.

"Good fucking riddance." He looked out the window. It was evening already and he hadn't even had his parents come berate him about the picture yet. Fucking Deku. Of course he knew her fucking name. She had almost gotten herself killed to save his life… He would have given anything to save her. And honestly, he also wished he had been the one taken instead.

"You didn't mean that, Ribbit."

He jumped, forgetting the frog bitch was still there. Apparently just fucking watching him like some sort of creep.

"I know you have feelings for her."

"You don't know shit, Frog-bitch." She didn't flinch at his name calling, and began walking closer to his bed.

"It's pretty obvious that you care about her, you can't deny it. You may not have feelings for her the same way Midoriya does, but they are there all the same." She placed a finger on her lips and give him those stupid, knowing eyes like she always did when she was fucking judging people.

He had been around her way too fucking long to know her habits like that. He scoffed and turned away from her towards the window.

"I saw you the night before the exam, Ribbit. You tucked a blanket around her and set her alarm. You looked really happy." She started walking back towards the door. "It's okay to care about someone, Bakugo. It doesn't make you less of a hero, Ribbit. It makes you more of a human."

"Hey! Fro… Asui…" He couldn't seem to find the right words.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything about you being nice." She closed the door, leaving the room dark and silent.

He was fuming. Stupid Frog. Katsuki Bakugo did not do mushy feelings or even _nice_ , and if he had shown kindness to Uraraka, it was only because he respected her as a strong, fellow hero. The drug had pushed his teenage hormones over the edge and she had just been in the vicinity. That didn't make him a bad person, just… Confused.

He flopped back onto the bed and shoved his face into his pillow. He wished he could have stayed in the coma for just one more day. That would have saved him some explaining. Thinking of the moment again caused a fiery feeling in his stomach that made his heart beat fast, but he couldn't stop replaying the scene in his head. It had to be either severe guilt for what he let happen to her, or terrible heartburn. He would have to ask for reflux medication in the morning.

He heard his parents in the hall and decided to avoid the inevitable stupid fucking lecture by pretending to be asleep. He turned his head to the wall and closed his eyes tightly.

"BAKUGO YOU LITTLE SHI-" She stopped suddenly when she noticed him lying on the bed.

"Shh, Mitsuki, he is sleeping. We should probably let him get in as much as he can."

"Masaru, I'm worried about him. I've never seen the little shit show interest in girls before. What if she is…"

"I don't know… It can't be easy on him. It's hard for even me to think about someone being taken like that. There are things worse than death, Mitsuki… And with her being a pretty young girl…"

"Masaru!" She hissed back at him.

It took Bakugo a moment to understand what his father had meant. He could feel vomit rise in the back of his throat. He had already considered the possibility she could be killed, it wasn't a pleasant thought, but it was an outcome that heroes prepared themselves for, and he didn't think they were likely to get rid of their only bargaining tool. Torture was harder to process, or… He couldn't even bring himself to think the word. The thought of any of those scumbags touching her felt like a knife slicing down his chest. He quietly wiped his palms on the sheets to avoid any explosive accidents.

His father walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I just hope he doesn't blame himself. He is a sensitive kid."

Sensitive? Who the fuck were they talking about? He was _not_ sensitive. Sitting and watching helplessly as someone drags away a close classmate, to do God knows what with, would fuck with anyone.

It felt like hours before his parents eventually retired to a nearby hotel. He couldn't bring himself to move even after they had left, hoping that sleep would take him away from his thoughts. No such luck. He felt like his brain was a movie on replay, showing him over and over how stupid he had been, and all the mistakes he had made that led to her getting taken.

He eventually gave up on sleep. There was too much going through his mind to calm down. Normally in situations like this, Bakugo would go to the gym, which was not an option for him at the moment. He was supposed to wait for physical therapy to help him get up and walk, but he was never one to follow stupid instructions. Pushing himself up quietly, he placed his bare feet on the cold floor. He was a little unsteady at first, but quickly regained his balance. His knees ached as he lowered himself down to the floor, determined to work out his jumbled mind through pushups. His muscles resisted, but he refused to stop until his arms gave out. Seventy-two. Definitely not as many as he was normally able to do, but his strength wasn't nearly as decreased as he expected it to be.

Wearing just shorts and a hospital gown, he opened his door and peered into the hallway. Empty. He crept down the hallway until he reached the closest stairwell. After a few laps between the first and fifth floor, he stopped at the small courtyard outside the bottom of the stairs. The air was crisp and the ground felt like ice on his bare feet. He looked at his palms, they were dripping with sweat and trembling slightly. He let off a small, controlled blast that warmed his face. The next blast was bigger, but he could feel the precision that he had been lacking at the gala. He balled his hands up into fists, staring at them intently. If he had only refused the alcohol…

"You're going to end up in restraints if they catch you destroying property out here." The light from his explosions lit up the figure sitting at one of the small tables in the courtyard.

"I'm not destroying shit, and the security in this place is shit if they are letting half and half bastards like you run around freely."

Fire suddenly surrounded Todoroki's left hand, brightening the dimly lit area. He was also still in a hospital gown, probably looking for some semblance of escape from this stupid hell hole.

"They don't want us interfering in the investigation." He remained focused on his hand. It pissed him off when people ignored his insults.

"No shit. Thanks for stating the obvious. Were you fucking waiting for me to come out here?"

"No, just chance." Icy Hot motioned for him to sit down. Refusing, Bakugo continued to stand with his arms crossed. "Midoriya came and saw me this evening."

Mother Fucker. He gruffly pulled out the black metal chair and sat down. "So did you stalk me out here just to tell me what a shitty person I am too? Because I'm pretty sure there is a fucking line for that right now."

"Your personal life is none of my business, Bakugo. Although I don't agree with Midoriya's assumption about your intentions, I won't probe." He leaned back in his chair, casting a faint glow on the scarred half of his face. "I'm more worried about what he is going to do now."

"Something fucking stupid, probably. But it's not like he will let _me_ try to stop him."

"Midoriya doesn't like to burden others. He would rather place everything on his own shoulders than ask for help from his friends. Even though I think with this, he may be a bit out of his league."

"And?" Discussing the shitty nerd's emotions was not something that interested him.

"He received a text message while in my room that caused him to leave suddenly. Based on his expression, I think he may have information on Uraraka's whereabouts."

That peaked his interest. Leave it to fucking Deku to hide information from the police and try and do shit on his own.

"And?" He was getting impatient. Bakugo had no intention of letting fucking Toga get the last laugh, and he had no intention of letting Uraraka rot in that hell hole without putting up a goddamn fight.

"I've talked with Yaoyorozu, and she agreed to keep an eye on him. He made it back to the dorms tonight, albeit much later than he should have. Based on Midoriya's descriptions of what happened outside the gala… I don't think he should be handling this alone. I don't think even _I_ would be enough backup."

"Self-centered much, half and half? If you ask nicely, I may be willing to grace you with my assistance. No plans on telling Trench Coat and Lassie?"

"I'm sure Midoriya has his reasons for keeping this information under wraps. He has a good analytical mind, which I greatly respect. He can be overzealous with his heroic passion, but he is by no means dumb." He knit his brows together in concern like some sort of doting fucking mother. "And I am not telling you this for you to run off and be a vigilante just like him, I'm telling you as a friend. I know you want to save Uraraka just as much as I do, if not more. But it will take more than just brute strength to do this, we will need specialized team."

"Don't start acting like we are fucking chummy, Icy hot. But if it means getting revenge, and getting her back… I'm in." He shifted uncomfortably in the chair under the boy's gaze. "No one will ever let me live it down if she gets fucking hurt…"

"I didn't say anything." He held both his hands up, casting the light from his left side towards his face. Bakugo could have sworn the fucker was smirking at him. "I do doubt Midoriya will just show us the information from his phone."

"I guess our ' _specialized team'_ will need to include Earjacks and the Lightning shit then."

Scar face stared at him like he hadn't just given him a genius idea.

"In second year, they helped Kirishima hack Tape Dispenser's phone. They could read all his texts, and sent him weird notifications to fuck with him for like… a week. I'm sure they'd be willing to actually do something useful for once."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Well, don't sound so fucking enthusiastic about my help."

The sound of a janitor entering the courtyard took them both by surprise. Quirk use was prohibited on hospital grounds, and Todoroki quickly extinguished his flames to avoid getting caught, leaving the two of them in the dark. "If I trip on my way back, I'm fucking blaming you."

"I'll keep you updated, Bakugo." He could hear the chair move back as the half and half bastard stood and made his way back to the stairwell.

After letting his eyes adjust, he followed. The fluorescent lights in the stairwell were blinding, and he could hear the sounds of the hospital beginning to wake as he climbed up to his floor back to his room. He glanced at the clock, it had only been a little over twelve hours since he had woken up from his coma. It felt like two fucking years.

His nurse was in his room before too long to scold him for leaving. After a few minutes of arguing, she agreed to let him shower.

He enjoyed the scalding water as it ran down the length of his back. His muscles ached from the sudden activity after multiple days of being immobile. He rubbed his shoulders, trying to organize the day into a cohesive picture. So much had changed in just one weekend, but at this point all that mattered was that he fucked up, and Uraraka had paid the price.

Scrubbing the layer of sweat off his body was painful. The staff with healing quirks had fixed up most of his wounds, but the crazy bitch had sliced him up pretty bad. He ran his hands through his hair, he felt dried dirt and blood leave his scalp, tinging the floor of the shower red. The color pulled his mind back to the floor of the ballroom, the metallic taste that seemed to poison the air, and to the tattered dress of Uraraka as she stood over him. Everything he did seemed to bring her back to the forefront of his thoughts. Were they hurting her? Or worse…

He needed to fucking sleep or he was going to go crazy thinking about her. He quickly finished washing and found a new, significantly larger, nurse waiting to 'escort' him to bed. After listening to him bitch at him for what felt like an hour, he finally left the room, leaving Bakugo to attempt sleep.

For trying to function on less than two, restless, hours of sleep, Tuesday went by surprisingly quickly. Turns out the hospital staff wanted him to leave just as much as he did, discharging him home to his parents before noon. With the help of his father, he convinced the hag to let him go back to the dorms. Apparently, it would help him return to _normalcy._ As if heroes lived anything close to normal lives. He tactfully circumvented, or actively ignored the presence of, all of his classmates, heading to and locking himself into his room. Avoiding the internet or news felt like the best option, and instead he focused on the weights in the corner of his room, falling into his old routine. His strength was still a little off, but it wouldn't take long for him to get back to baseline. Almost like normal... He scanned the room, it felt like he hadn't left. Clothes were still strewn around his room from Friday, the books he had been reading were still on his desk, and his workout bag was packed for the Saturday morning workout he had assumed he would have. It was hard for him to believe it had only been four days. The whole thing felt like one big nightmare.

He sat down on his bed, supporting his head in his hands. The only emotion he seemed to be able to muster was guilt, he couldn't even find the strength to be angry. He just felt empty. Lying down on his bed, he didn't even bother to turn off his lights. His fatigue was beginning to catch up with him as he closed his eyes and began to drift off. He fell into a fitful sleep, thoughts of his own ineptitude and Uraraka swirling in his head.

He woke up to the smell of singed fabric. Not a new smell for him, but one that he hadn't experienced since before middle school. He got up slowly and rubbed his eyes, evaluating the damage. There were multiple large burn marks on his bed, and one large one in the wall. He was surprised it didn't wake up Shitty Hair on the other side.

Apparently, whatever omniscient entity that was fucking up his life, had decided top off his shit-sunday by giving him nightmares that caused his quirk to activate. The only thing he could recall from his dream was that fucking purple mist. He was drenched in sweat, a slick layer of nitroglycerin threatening a larger explosion. He threw the sheets across the room, digging into his cabinets for the replacements his mother ensured he had stowed away. The hole in the wall would have to stay for now, a fucking reminder of his regression into some sort of fucking preteen.

Seven in the morning was early enough to avoid company in the bathroom. The showers were empty and the halls clear. He knew the day would be terrible and that there was no avoiding it, but he would be damned if he wouldn't try and delay it as long as possible. He still felt nauseous, so he avoided breakfast and the commons area altogether, opting to leave for class early, forcing down two bananas on the way. _It's important for heroes to take care of themselves so they have the strength to take care of others._ It was a stupid saying one of the teachers had forced on them during first year, but he hadn't really had a reason to apply it before now. Plus, punishing his body would not help the situation.

He started walking faster as he began to see other students near the building. It was hard to know what was worse, the whispering, or the fucking pity in everyone's eyes. Even the fucking nobodies in the hallways seemed to stop and stare.

He managed to get to the room before his classmates, but the fuckers took it upon themselves to attempt to speak to him.

"I saw the news report Bakugo. I didn't know that you two were… Well… I'm sorry."

Of all the extras, the sugar guy was the one to bring it up first. There was no fear of retribution on his face, just fucking pity. He glared at him until he left, choosing to stare out the window and ignore all other attempts at conversation.

"I'm glad to see you back, Bakugo! Things aren't the same without you brooding around."

Fucking Racoon Eyes. He could feel her fucking sympathetic stare without having to even glance up. They were all oozing it and it made him sick.

"My condolences, Bakugo."

"If you need anything, just let us know!"

He was almost looking forward to fucking Deku and Four Eyes being angry at him so at least someone would treat him like he wasn't some fucking lost puppy.

"At least you got to kiss a super hot babe before things went south."

That one triggered a reaction out of him. His body turned instinctively towards the insignificant grape, prepared to launch an attack that would shut him up for at least a week. He could see the terror on the little shit's face as his hand began to spark, giving him a small moment of satisfaction. He felt his explosion sputter out before he had the chance to fire.

"That's enough of that." Aizawa walked into the room, appearing more alert than usual, but the bags under his eyes seemed larger. "Honestly, you really deserved that one, Mineta. Sit down and act like an adult.

"And Bakugo. Don't expect any special treatment today. I expect you and Todoroki to return to business as usual."

He didn't need any special treatment. He would have gladly taken any punishment for blasting the dweeb for that comment. The Grape shit was lucky he sat multiple seats behind him or he would have made it his personal duty to torture him. Fucking Sleaze ball.

The Shitty Nerd followed Aizawa into the room and quietly sat in the seat behind his own. He looked more exhausted than angry, sporting dark circles that made his face look sallow and gaunt. The idiot had obviously been skipping meals, and probably hadn't slept much in days. He avoided eye contact with everyone, opting to bury himself in his stupid notebooks.

It pissed him off.

He had been looking forward to angry Deku, as a change of pace from all the sympathetic stares, but the kid behind him just looked like an empty fucking shell. Turning around to acknowledge him was out of the question, but he could hear the quick buzz of a phone and the sharp intake of air from behind him. He waited for the softer, second buzz, that came from a different area of the room. It was barely audible, but it confirmed their plan was in motion. Whatever was on that phone was definitely related to Uraraka, and now he would have access to it.

Bakugo glanced around at his classmates. Icy Hot had apparently recruited some of them to help, but if any of them knew something, they were hiding it well. He didn't much care for working with others, but this mission would likely require a component of stealth, at which he, although he did not enjoy admitting it, did not excel.

Lunch brought a slight reprieve in the room's palpable tension. The class had finally accepted his desire to not be bombarded with a constant stream of condolences, and left him alone. He decided to eat in the classroom to further avoid any form of contact with other humans. He was displeased to find the room occupied by fucking Deku, who looked like he hadn't moved a muscle since sitting at his desk that morning.

"Starving yourself won't make shit better." The empty eyes met his own for a brief second before returning to their notebook without a word. He looked pathetic. Bakugo grabbed the bag of salted nuts off his tray and threw it onto the desk. If he was grateful, the nerd didn't show it.

He sank into his own chair, ignoring the shell of a human behind him. He had made the guy's life a living hell for years, and he always managed to smile through it all. Seeing him like this felt almost creepy. They continued to sit in silence, and as much as he typically enjoyed being alone, the sound of his own chewing was beginning to drive him crazy.

"You had the strongest quirk in the world just fucking handed to you, and you're letting the league fuck with you like your still some quirkless piece of shit." He didn't bother turning around. He knew what buttons to press to make Deku angry.

"I don't need a lecture today, Kacchan. You wouldn't understand."

"Yeah, because the pint-sized Symbol of Peace has to do everything by his fucking self." His eyes remained on his food. He began angrily finishing his lunch, shoving large chunks of chicken into his mouth and chewing loudly. It was multiple minutes after he had finished before he got his reply.

"I… I wasn't' there to save her and now she is probably hurt, or… worse… because of me." He could hear the tears behind the wavering voice. It was still too early in the day to deal with this emotional shit, but it wasn't like it was something he hadn't thought himself.

"You don't know what it feels like to have someone you care about ripped away from you…" His voice was getting progressively louder. "Uraraka doesn't mean anything to you!"

Bakugo's body moved before his brain could fully register. He was out of the seat, Deku's shirt in his hands as he shoved him towards the wall.

"You don't get to fucking tell me who I care about." He kept his voice low and growled. "You don't get to tell me that I don't fucking care she is gone."

His words were beginning to waver as he lost his composure.

"You weren't fucking there. You weren't the one who sat and watched them take her while you did _nothing_." He was getting progressively louder now, unable to stop the flow of all the shit he had been avoiding the last few days.

"It fucking hurts. Every time I think about her being gone, it fucks me up. My chest aches, I get nauseous, and I have to fucking remind myself to breath. Because this was _my_ fault. _I'm_ the one who ended All Might, and now _I'm_ the goddamn one who let the _one_ person I…I…" He caught himself before he could finish blurting out all his jumbled thoughts. Although he really wasn't really sure how he was planning on finishing that sentence.

"Kacchan…"

He felt fucking tears welling in his eyes. This was definitely a low he hadn't reached in years. Dropping the boy to the floor, he grabbed the collar of his own shirt, burying his face into the cloth and rubbing his eyes raw.

"Hey, Bakugo! I wanted to..."

He turned to find a smiling Kirishima in the doorway. His face faded upon seeing the scene in the classroom, obviously confused by the combination of the shitty nerd on the floor and his own swollen, watery eyes.

If he had any reaction, he didn't show it. Turning around quickly, the red-head shut the door, leaving the two of them alone once again. If Shitty-Hair knew what was good for him, he would keep his fucking mouth shut.

The interruption gave them both enough time to gather their composure and settle into their seats before the rest of the class returned from lunch. Bakugo faced the window, shielding himself from view of the rest of the extras, favoring instead the monotony of the falling snow outside.

He couldn't focus on the lectures, the loud Microphone was droning on about strategic retreats and avoiding dangerous conflict. It felt only slightly targeted to their situations, and he wasn't in the mood for a moral soapbox.

The sound of crinkling food packaging behind him almost put a smirk on his face. If anything could make this day less shitty it was fucking Deku acknowledging he was right. He was still pissed off at shitty nerd, but he actually felt a bit better to get all that shit off his chest.

At the bell, he rushed back to his room before Shitty hair had the chance to talk about what had happened. It wasn't long before the knocking began, with Kirishima yelling to talk about fucking feelings. He ignored him, and instead scoured the internet obsessively to try and prepare for what they would be up against should they end up fighting their way to through this one.

The photo of the kiss was impossible to avoid. Seeing it made his throat dry, but each time it appeared, he found himself staring longer, searching her face for a reaction. It made him feel like a stupid kid.

Around eight, a quiet, and obnoxiously persistent, knock drug him from his laptop. He stomped over to the door, opening it enough to peek through, only for the person to squeeze into the door frame, blocking him from slamming it.

Of course it was the fucking Frog.

"We are meeting at ten in Momo's room, Ribbit." She looked around his room before stepping away from his doorframe. "Todoroki said you would want to know, that's all. I won't keep you from your photos any longer."

The bitch had the audacity to fucking smile at him. He could feel the heat rise in the back of his neck and his cheeks reddening. She was down the hall before he had the chance to retaliate. He closed the door angrily, slamming his laptop shut.

He felt like he was living in a nightmare. Torn between actual fucking horror and constant embarrassment. He was never going to live this moment down. The only thought worse than the thought of Uraraka being hurt, was imagining being anywhere near her if she made it home... When she made it home.

He managed to distract himself by working on some adjustments to his winter suit. Since obtaining their hero licenses, students were allowed to keep them in their rooms, and Bakugo would often work on making and storing mini bombs just to prepare for any future battles.

When the clock hit ten till, he made his way to Nerd girl's room. His knock was met with hushed murmuring.

"Who is it?"

"Open the fucking door."

"Ah, Bakugo, of course…" Jiro opened the door and let him in with a roll of her eyes.

"Don't sound so excited to see me, Ears." He walked passed her and surveyed the group. His eyes fell on the smallest member of the group.

"No."

He turned to walk out, only to be pulled back in by fucking IcyHot. "I'm not working with that fucking perverted grape shit."

"We've looked at our options, and we need Mineta." Half and half held tightly onto his arm, blocking the door to prevent him from leaving. "We think we may know where she is, Bakugo."

That shut him up. He turned back to the group, huffing angrily as he sat on the floor. The room was packed. Along with the Grape, the Frog, Nerd girl and the fucking Human temperature dial, they had also included Shitty hair, who was staring at him like an obsessed creep. Invisible girl, Ears and Pikachu were also there taking up goddamn space.

He was honestly starting to get all their nicknames confused, but it looked like the group was mostly focused on recon and infiltration.

"We missed out on some of the texts, but based on what we've garnered so far, it looks like Uraraka is being held in a factory somewhere in this area." The tall girl had pulled a map out of her fucking breasts. He was still not used to that shit.

"Midoriya has been receiving texts giving hints, such as pictures of parts of the building and nearby street signs. Toru has been following him at night and from what we can tell, these three buildings are the ones he has been focusing on most." She pointed to what looked like an abandoned group of warehouses.

"He has been requesting evidence that she is safe, but has yet to receive confirmation at this point…"

The room seemed to get colder at her words, and he could hear a few of his classmates nervously shift around at the weight of the situation. He scoffed loudly, it wasn't like they could have expected this to be a walk in the fucking park.

"We plan on waiting for him to make the first move and following behind. It's probably best if he doesn't know that we know. The League has made it clear that they want him to come alone. But we need to know what we are going up against first."

IcyHot laid out the plan that was obviously too nuanced for him to come up with alone. It had tall bitch and frog girl written all over it. They were to avoid fighting if at all possible, and if they were unable to, the barrier bastard was the first target. Each member of their group was given a list of enemies they were to avoid based on quirk match-ups. He had to admit, it was actually a really impressively detailed presentation.

They had created ear pieces for each of them, and once they retrieved both Uraraka and Deku, they were to leave immediately. The thought of running away made him feel sick, but he understood that they needed to get Uraraka to safety as soon as possible.

A small buzzing noise interrupted the talking, all eyes moved to the phone on the center of the desk. The words showed up first.

 _'Your time is running out, Izuku Midoriya. We've sent you all the clues, come find her or she dies. We see any pro heroes and she dies. You have less than 3 hours.'_

He wasn't able to register who exactly read the words aloud. His body began shaking with anticipation as the room buzzed about tracking Deku and grabbing costumes.

The picture came next. One they were not expecting. Looking at it made him feel like vomiting.

The girl in the photo was barely recognizable. The red dress, torn to shreds, hung from her body, her hands, tied together, looked blistered and burnt, as if they had been seared by fire.

The bruised face of Uraraka defiantly stared back at the camera.

She was alive, and she was still fighting.

He was going to get her back.

A screen began beeping on a computer behind them.

"Suit up, Midoriya is on the move. We leave in 10."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know if you have any comments or critiques!**

 **I suppose this could end the story, but I've enjoyed writing too much to stop just yet.**

Chapter 10—

It was Wednesday. Possibly Tuesday. Maybe Thursday.

Uraraka used the heavy chain hanging from her neck to carve a fifth mark onto the dusty, concrete floor. Her hands stung with the effort, cutting her last line a bit shorter than the others.

At this point, Uraraka had lost track of the days, but she knew it was important to try and retain some semblance of time passing. The room she was in had no windows, the only source of light being one flickering lamp near the door. She tried to judge the time of day by when they brought her food, but there was no guaranteeing that they were consistent.

They were keeping her in a makeshift 'dungeon' in the basement of what she assumed to be an abandoned building. The room was bare except for the heavy chain that pinned her to the floor like an animal, and one corner which had an old toilet and a large utility sink. She was thankful to have access to running water as she rinsed her stinging hands, turning the water a faint pink color with her blood. She had refused to trust the water for the first few days out of fear of the poison, and it had taken until Twice drank from the sink in front of her before she would even touch it.

Twice and Toga were who she generally saw enter the room. Out of all the villains to care for her in this situation, she got relatively lucky. Although she was not particularly fond of either of them, both were relatively loose lipped with information, and they had apparently been barred from harming her themselves. They adhered to this for the most part, although she had a few bruises from going a bit too far with probing for information.

With Dabi, things were different. She had been there roughly a day before she saw him the first time, but the memory was already seared into her.

 _"It's not my purview to kill someone who is tied up, so you can stop trying to squirm away from me."_

 _The figure loomed over her, the flickering light casting an ominous glow over his burnt skin. She bit at her lips to try and remove the tape. If she could get her mouth free, she could bite off the ropes around her wrist and use her quirk to get out of here._

 _"It won't work." His aqua eyes met her own, almost reminding her of Todoroki, only colder. "That cord around your hands won't come off without cutting or burning, your quirk is unusable."_

 _He leaned back against the wall and eyed her. She felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze, and became acutely aware of her tattered dress, maneuvering to cover herself._

 _"All you heroes are the same. Always so confident you can win, even when you're facing death. I don't even give a shit about you being here, but it seems like your life is in my hands now, isn't it?"_

 _His lips curled upward, distorting his half burnt face into a painful-looking grimace. The wicked smile only grew as he moved closer to her, squatting down to her level._

 _He ripped the tape off her mouth in one quick motion, leaving her face stinging._

 _"Rot in hell." She growled at him, surprised at the venom in her own voice._

 _"You know, you've been here less than 24 hours and you've managed to knock Toga on her ass and give Twice a black eye, all with being chained to the floor and your hands tied. As humorous as I find that, we can't keep you alive in here for long with your wrists bound together, and I can't have you scaring off any underlings." He stood up, looming over her and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Your quirk is a problem, but I like your spunk so I won't take it away from you just now."_

 _His voice sounded bored, almost adding to the weight of his words. What did he mean take it away?_

 _He pulled a towel wrapped bundle from his jacket and tossed it at her. She crawled towards it slowly, hesitantly reaching out her bound hands to awkwardly knock the contents onto the dusty floor. It contained medical supplies, which made her instantly feel uneasy. Distracted, she must have missed him pull out another bottle from his jacket, and was shocked to feel liquid splattered onto her outstretched hands, soaking the fabric between her palms. It smelled like strong alcohol, and she realized his intention seconds too late._

 _The fire hit her as she was attempting to roll away. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt. She smacked her hands on the dusty ground, unable to suffocate the flames. Hero's were trained that torture was a possibility, but all she could think of was the need to stop the pain. She was sure that everyone in the building could hear her scream, but she knew there would be no one to save her this time._

 _She instinctively made her way to the sink, turning it on and dousing the flames without even registering moving. The cold, rushing water offering a brief relief to the pain. The fabric binding her hands had burned off, leaving her only restraint the heavy chain that hung from her neck. Even with the fire extinguished, her skin continued to sting like a violent, raging blaze. Acrid smoke entered her nose, the charred metallic smell that could only be attributed to burning skin and blood caused bile to rise in the back of her throat. She choked back vomit, her irritated eyes beginning to water._

 _Looking at her hands as they began to blister, she understood what he had meant. She couldn't use her quirk like this. Tears overflowed, streaming down her face as she continued to let the water run over her burnt flesh._

 _She tried to think about anything else, desperate to focus of anything other than the pain exploding in her hands. Explosions… She found her mind drifting to Bakugo. Was this what it felt like for him to overuse his quirk? Bakugo… She had been so absorbed in her own predicament, she had forgotten the world outside. She had tried to save him. All of this and she didn't even know if he was even still alive._

 _Once her senses returned to her, she became acutely aware that she was still being watched._

 _"Please, just answer me one thing…" She tried unsuccessfully to hide the waver in her voice. "Is he okay? Is Bakugo okay?"_

 _The slim man laughed, sauntering towards the door with indifference._

 _"Ah, so noble… You sacrificed yourself to save that brat, and now you have to suffer alone" He opened the large, metal door. "Well… Since you apparently have multiple attentive little imps in your life, you better hope the right one shows up to save you. We'd have no use keeping you around if not._

 _I let you keep your hands. If they get infected, we could always cut them off. Now behave like a fucking good girl for once."_

 _The door slam answered multiple questions for her. They were obviously using her as bait for Deku, and Bakugo had to be alive. She felt an odd mixture of relief and horror as she stared at her still smoldering flesh._

The memory of blue fire and searing pain played on repeat in her mind. Even after treating her own wounds, just thinking about his face caused the pain to flare up all over again.

The medical supplies had been a life saver. Along with her hands, she had to care for the dirty wounds that Toga's knives had inflicted as well. She knew if she had any plans of making it out of her basement dungeon, she had to keep up her strength. She ate everything they fed her, and filed every conversation she could hear through the walls away in her mind to piece together what they were after. Anything to focus her mind on getting out of there.

 _"It's just a matter of time before he comes... He's just so cute! I can't wait to slice him!"_

 _"What if he fights back? His quirk isn't exactly weak!"_

 _"I like it though!"_

 _"You heard the boss, we have Yuto. So stop being so lame or I'll cut you instead!"_

Yuto was a name she had been hearing a lot. It was one of a few names tossed around that she didn't recognize. Meaning the league had been recruiting, which put her at an even heavier disadvantage trying to escape.

But why did they want Deku so badly? It was possible that they were trying to get to All Might, but it seemed to a very roundabout plan for that to be their goal. Toga always referred to him as the 'special heir', which confused her even more.

She knew Deku was special. His quirk was out of this world powerful, and everyone in their class looked up to him. He was inspiring, but to be the sole target of the League?

It was hard for her to imagine that it was just days ago that she had been crying over him calling her weak. She laughed ruefully. He had been right all along. She _was_ weak, and now she was crying to herself hoping he would come to save her. She was stupid to think she could ever be a real hero. All she was good for was needing to be saved. She curled up on the floor, placing her head between her knees. The logical part of her didn't want him to come. It was obviously a trap, and in the end, the world needed more Dekus than they did Uravitys. The thought of never being able to leave caused her heart to race, and a cool film of sweat to form on her forehead. She shook her head hard, forcing herself to focus on solving the puzzle of why they wanted him so badly.

The voices outside were growing more and more nervous as time passed. Bits and pieces came through for her to add to her already confusing collection.

 _"We need his blood specifically, All Might gave him One for All..."_

 _"Will this stuff even work?..."_

 _"You saw the picture online; I think he's too cute for her anyway! Can I stab her now?"_

 _"No. He'll come..."_

Nothing seemed to fit together. What was One for All? And why did All Might give it to Deku? She tried to take all the pieces and place them into a list of what she knew.

-They want Deku, well… Specifically his blood. He has One for All, which was given to him by All Might, who must not have it anymore. Someone named Yuto is how they want to stop him from fighting back with his quirk-

She tried to recall what his quirk really was. He originally called it a strength quirk, but since then she had seen him use energy projections and other things that honestly didn't fit the category. She wondered briefly why she had never critically thought about it before, but was interrupted by the door being thrust open. Toga and Twice entered together, the former carrying her normal plate of food and the other a flip phone. It was unusual for more than one person to visit, putting her already frayed nerves further on edge.

"You must be excited, today's the day!"

"It's not very interesting."

Twice set her food in front of her, it had been awhile since she had last eaten, and she began hungrily grabbing at the hard bread, cautious of her blistered hands.

"We get to see if All Might's successor really does love you, or if your betrayal was just too much of a knife through the heart!"

She cackled and mimicked the motion with a small blade in her left hand that she had procured from goodness know where. Uraraka gazed up at her, confused. Her mouth was too full of food to question her.

"Oh silly me! You wouldn't know, would you? I'm just so jealous you get _two_ pretty guys! Izuku's blood smells so good, but when Katsuki-kun was lying there half dead…Eeeee! I like my men slightly… Abused."

Her smile was filled with madness as she giddily swung around her knife. She did not succeed in making Uraraka any less confused.

"Hey! Why don't you ever tell _me_ I'm pretty! I'd treat you good!"

"You're too ugly for anyone else."

She had almost gotten use to Twice's conflicting personalities, but the two of her captors together in one room did not mesh well.

"You couldn't handle me! I need a real man to slice… And Izuku-kun has such a strong quirk. He can handle a lot of… damage." Toga's cheeks were red with excitement as she grabbed at the collar of her sweater.

"It's not even his quirk! If someone handed me a powerful quirk would you like me then?"

"I can't believe you'd want a quirkless bastard."

The dark suited man roughly grabbed her, and began to tie her wrists together. She was too preoccupied with what she had just learned to even care about the pain.

"Quirkless…?" She asked softly, half to herself.

"Looks like your prince is keeping secrets from you, he obviously doesn't care about you…" She ended her sentence with a swift motion to pick up the plate on the floor, deftly smashing the metal across her face and knocking her to the floor. "I'd move on if I were you… Or you could just stay here forever and be my best friend!"

Her face would definitely be bruised after that one, but she was prepared for the next hit, rolling away before Toga's foot could hit her chest. She didn't make it far before a tugging around her neck brought her back to the floor hard, slamming her head onto the dusty concrete. She slowly sat up through a wave of dizziness, and hoped she didn't have a concussion. She glanced over at Twice, who had the end of the chain in his hands, pulling her back. She reluctantly headed towards them, avoiding another jerk to her neck.

"Best friends? I didn't think you liked the company of loose women."

"You're loose enough as it is."

Loose…? That was an adjective that Uraraka had not heard used to describe people.

"That's true, you did almost get us in trouble!" Toga's face darkened as she leaned in closer. "Kissing Katsuki-kun like that when we are trying to use you as bait for Izuku-kun"

The memory hit her like a rock. She had barely even thought about anything that had happened before the incident since being brought here. There had been a gala before the explosion. She had walked around and talked and laughed, she had danced, and she had a good time. All with Bakugo. Who had kissed her. Or did she kiss him? Her memory was kind of fuzzy and she couldn't imagine him having feelings for anyone like that…

"Earth to girl, you're bright red! Obviously you're embarrassed to be seen with Crazy dude."

"I bet it pissed off Midoriya off to see his girl getting around."

Both of Twice's personalities apparently found the situation funny. Uraraka could feel her blood begin to boil.

"You'll probably have to apologize to him before he'll save you. If he even bothers at all! He will just have to keep a better eye on his goods next time! I'll be there for him if-"

"I am not goods!" She could feel her anger spilling out unchecked. "I do not _belong_ to anyone!"

She had forgotten in her anger that Toga still held the plate until it smashed against the unscathed side of her face. She fell to the floor, making sure to put most of the weight on her shoulder. Her head couldn't take many more hits, and it would likely be in her favor to avoid angering them too much more.

"Hey, be careful with that thing, we're just here to escort her up and take a photo."

"She _is_ cute when she's mad though."

Twice leaned down and unhooked the chain around her neck, helping her stand. She took a couple deep breaths, relishing the new freedom.

"Everyone looks better in photos with a few bruises!" Toga quickly shifted back into her usual crazy, manic, bubbly self. She threw the plate across the room and skipped towards the door, opening it to reveal a steep stairwell.

They lead her out of the room and up the stairs to a ground floor hallway. The sun was setting and the light from the windows hurt her eyes. How long had it been since she had seen the sun?

She let Twice lead her without resistance. She used the time her eyes needed to adjust to process what she had learned.

She placed all feelings about the kiss aside. It seemed like something she could save for _if_ she survived the night. With all the pomp and circumstance, it felt like tonight would be her only chance at escape, and if she wanted to get out of here alive she needed to focus.

They had honestly given her way more information than she knew what to do with.

Deku had been quirkless. It made sense. He hadn't known how to control his quirk when they first met, and most people have decent control by the time they hit high school. If he inherited the quirk instead of being born with it, it is possible that that's what All Might gave to him.

It fit so well that she almost felt stupid for not figuring it out sooner. The timing of starting UA and All Might losing his powers, how invested he seemed to be in Deku, and how similar their abilities were. It would also explain why Bakugo was so angry at him first year, growing up together without a quirk and all of a sudden developing the most powerful one imaginable. Well… It kind of explained it. Bakugo being a giant ass all throughout first year probably played a large roll as well.

She smiled to herself at the thought of how much he had mellowed out since then. It really was possible for people to change, and she was no exception. She caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of one of the windows. Her face was dusty and bruised, her hair matted and tangled, and it looked as if she had lost a good amount of weight. But she was still standing tall. The girl staring back at her looked defiant, despite all her wounds. She might be physically weak, but she was still a hero, and she had no plans of going out without a fight with or without her quirk.

She shook her head softly to focus her thoughts. So... If Deku's blood had this… inherited quirk, or what they called 'One for All', was it possible that taking his blood would take it away from him? Could they use it themselves? She wasn't clear on the details, but she knew she had to keep Toga away from him. Especially since blood was involved. She wiggled her hands, flinching when her blisters rubbed against the rope. The material wasn't very strong, and Twice hadn't tied it that tightly. If she worked at it slowly, she could easily escape, but not with the two of them watching her.

They led her into a large, open, rectangle room. Light streamed in from windows about eight meters above the ground, accessible only by a rickety-looking fire escape on what she assumed, based on the sun's position, to be the west wall. On the east side of the room, was a large warehouse door, likely where they intended to welcome Deku.

A slew of new and unfortunately familiar faces grouped themselves under the windows. They watched her with expressionless eyes as she was escorted to the center of the room. Toga shoved her to the ground unceremoniously. She glared back at her as she wordlessly snapped a photo. It was unlike Toga to be quiet, but the added presence in the room was likely to blame.

Shigaraki's twisted face was among them, and Dabi was leaning lazily against the north wall, standing next to a man concealed with a large coat and hood. She shuddered slightly as her eyes fell upon the final inhabitant of the room. It was a grotesque creature with pale skin and an almost arachnid appearance. She averted her eyes to avoid its piercing gaze.

She almost groaned out loud when she saw the large chain Twice had procured. He fastened it around her neck and secured it to the center of the floor. The reach of this one was much shorter, leaving her unable to even stand. She decided to face the door, where most of the group seemed to be focused. An awkward silence filled the room as the sun finished setting, leaving only the faint glow of the street lights outside.

The silence was broken by the north door. She strained against the length of her chain to see the two figures entering. They were not recognizable in the dark, but one was definitely large and muscular, and the other appeared to be female with… Ears?

Dabi greeted them, taking whatever they had been holding and leaving her field of vision. The sound of his fire made her physically jump as light flooded the room. Torches. He carried them to the east wall, illuminating the door and Uraraka, leaving the rest of the room's inhabitants in the shadows, likely on purpose.

"Now now, Dabi…" The spine-chilling hiss of Shigaraki was growing closer. "It appears you may have scared our little bird. We want her in good condition for our guest."

He waltzed slowly into her line of site, bending down so his face was inches from her own. She bit down the nervous bile that was beginning to rise in her throat.

"Leave Deku alone!" Her voice echoed clearly in the large room. "What do you want from him?"

He straightened and slowly turned away from her. She could feel the breath she hadn't known she was holding release.

"So noble… You kids are always trying to play the hero. It's annoying.

I just want to show you and the rest of the world how childish and fragile your world of heroes truly is. To create a better, more stable, world, where people don't have to rely on faulty heroes in order to survive."

A small pinging noise interrupted his manic flight of ideas. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the flip phone Toga had used earlier, checking it before scanning the room casually.

"I suppose it's almost time for the big event. Yuto, join us here."

The hooded man made his way over to Shigaraki. Even in the light, she was unable to make out his face. The large, black jacket looked ideal for blending into the shadows, and not so much for fighting. Whatever his quirk was, it was likely assist based, and was apparently strong enough to take out Deku. A circle of faint green light covered the perimeter of the warehouse, emanating from the man. The people in the room she could still see appeared wary of touching it, curiosity filled her, but nothing seemed to happen.

They waited in silence, with only the sound of the crackling barrier. The anticipation of seeing Deku again made her heart swell. The thought of seeing her parents again made her eyes water. They had to be terrified. She felt guilty for all the pain they must have been going through because of her. She wiggled her wrists a bit more in her restraints, using the pain as a distraction. She managed to pull half of her right hand out, although she popped multiple blisters in the process. The liquid began oozing down her hands, she hid them between her legs to hide any sign of her escape attempt. Looking down at the new, raw flesh made it sting even worse. The blisters around her fingers were still angry, large and intact, preventing her from using her quirk. She had been hesitant to pop any of the blisters out of fear of infection, but if tonight was really do or die, would it allow her to use her quirk again?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the warehouse door.

"Come in!" Toga's shrill voice rang throughout the barren room.

It happened suddenly. A massive wind ripped through the building, knocking the door from the hinges. She saw both Shigaraki and the hooded man go flying, the barrier evaporating from around her. A green blur began bouncing throughout the room. Flashes of fire began lighting up her peripheral vision, and screeching filled her ears. She strained to see, almost falling over before being caught by a hand.

"Stop." Shigaraki barely spoke, but she instantly realized the hand that had caught her was his. She became stiff, one more finger on her and she would be disintegrated. Deku must have realized something similar as the green blur came to a halt, morphing into a person as he stared at her with a pained looked, already scorched and bruised. The black projections above him held a struggling, cursing Toga. Other than her loud exclamations, the room grew silent, all focused on her fate. She wanted desperately to call out to him, to thank him, but with the cold, dead, hand on her skin, it was all she could do to continue breathing.

"I think we can handle this like business men, can't we, Izuku Midoriya? We have something you want, and likely want intact, and you have something we want." The faint, green circle from before surrounded herself and Shigaraki. The man, Yuto, stood between the two of them and Deku. Based on his nervous stance, it seemed like their original plan had failed.

"Get your hands off of her!" His voice was powerful, but tearful. He sounded like a real hero.

"As you wish," He removed his hand from her shoulder, allowing her to take a relieved breath before kicking her hard enough that she fell to the floor. She was facing the west wall now, completely away from any action. "But you have to come here first."

She could feel a body fly just above her as Toga passed through the green circle into the back wall. It seemed too close to her to be an accident, and she assumed that meant Deku knew how the green barrier worked. The punch that followed was loud enough that she flinched, almost missing the body of Yuto flying passed her to land next to Toga's injured form. He, unlike Toga, was not moving.

It was Shigaraki's laugh that she heard next. Cold, hair-raising, and seemingly out of place.

"I was starting to worry our plan wouldn't work, you know. You obviously were aware of some of our newer members beforehand; you are a good study. But you miscalculated slightly. Even by touching Yuto, his quirk takes effect, and I'm sure by now you know what that means…"

She twisted her neck, rocking back and forth to catch a glimpse of Deku. He seemed unharmed, but he wasn't fighting back. The group in the back of the room remained in the shadows, obviously no longer feeling threatened. Toga was up and moving again, and she could see the delighted grin on her face. He couldn't fight anymore. She could feel the tears in her eyes begin to well up, distorting her vision and making the walls dance. She was glad the light was behind her so they couldn't see her crying. Using small movements, she pulled her right hand completely free of her restraints and wiped her eyes. Despite this, the walls continued to occasionally warp in her vision. She focused harder, noticing multiple black spots appearing on the wall. She was either going crazy, or the wall was changing and no one else seemed to notice.

"It seems you've lost your ability to barter, Izuku Midoriya. There isn't an All Might here to save you this time."

The sound of a distant police siren drew her attention to the windows, it was not especially loud, but she hadn't heard any traffic the entire afternoon. She was surprised to see one of them was widely ajar, letting the sounds of the city bleed into the room. None of the faces in the back appeared to notice.

"It's me you want, Shigaraki. Leave her out of this, she's just an innocent girl!" His voice sounded stilted, she could tell he was afraid, although he would never admit to it.

She strained to hear any footsteps that would indicate either of them preparing to fight, but all she could hear was the distant city, heavy breathing, and an oddly familiar popping sound.

"Oh, but we've been having so much fun here, and I've not even told you what I want quite yet. You may not want her when you find out." Shigaraki sounded excited, reminding her of a cat toying with it's food. He must have called Toga over, because she skipped happily towards them. She could feel herself panicking, wanting desperately to scream and warn him to run away and leave her. But the the thought of those cold, dead, hands on her skin, turning her to dust left her mouth dry and unable to speak.

The fire flickered brightly, briefly illuminating the back wall. She noticed the black spots were actually purple, and seemed almost three dimensional.

She sucked in a quick breath of air when she realized from where she recognized the popping sound.

Deku had backup, whether he knew it or not.

Before she had time to digest what was happening, a pink rope extended down to encircle the now levitating body of Mineta. Seeing the floating gloves next to him, she immediately knew what was coming next, squeezing her eyes shut, she curled up to shield herself.

Even with her eyes shut, the light was blinding. Hagakure only held the effect for about thirty seconds, but the chaos that ensued was immediate.

"What the hell is this?" A deep voice she attributed to the muscular man rang out above the rest.

"Who cares what it is, get your shit together, we are under attack!" A female voice answered.

"I can't see anything!"

"At least I don't have to see all of your ugly faces."

"You idiots! It came from the back wall, get them!"

The explosion came next, louder than any normal blast should ever be. Even with her hands over her ears, it left her head spinning. She hoped Deku had caught on as fast as she had, or neither of them would be getting away with him being deaf.

She couldn't help but smile, because where there were explosions, there was Bakugo.

Chained down to the floor and unable to move, the entire scene felt incredibly dissociative. When the smoke cleared, standing on the rubble were her classmates. Kirishima, Bakugo and Jiro, all with heavy duty headphones, led the charge. It was likely the combination of the latter two that lead to such a huge effect and noise. Their plan, or what she assumed they were planning, seemed to have worked. The villains began to stand back up, their movements hindered by large chunks of debris stuck to them by Mineta's quirk. Kaminari, Momo and Todoroki were the next to enter the fray. She caught site of Tsu on the fire escape, forcibly altering the battlefield by moving people around with her tongue.

They all seemed to have a specified target for the mission, disseminating quickly into the room and creating mass chaos. She turned back to where Deku had been earlier. He had used the diversion to put a good amount of distance between himself and Shigaraki, but Toga was fast on his heels. The leader himself was only ten feet away from her. As if hearing her thoughts, he turned and made his way towards her. She crawled back on her elbows up to the length her chain allowed, not daring to turn around for fear of what might come next.

"You said you'd come alone. You bet her life on it!" He hissed loudly at Deku while growing slowly closer to her.

"I didn't! I-" His protest distracted him just long enough for Toga to force him into a headlock, knife inches from his neck. Uraraka could feel herself panicking. She knew they needed his blood, but she had never questioned whether or not they needed him alive to get it.

"Turns out we aren't very good at doing what we're fucking told." Bakugo literally exploded between the two groups, quickly taking in the situation. "You better not fucking touch either of them or I swear I will fucking end you."

She had never been so happy to see him before. His normal battle-hungry expression was replaced with something much darker than she had ever seen before, and he was glaring straight death at Shigaraki.

"Well now, Bakugo. Looks like you're in position to chose. Go save Midoriya if you want the girl to die. Save her and you lose him." He closed the gap between them, placing one ice cold finger on her bare shoulder. He laughed almost nonchalantly, sending a soul-withering chill through what felt like the entire room.

She felt the breath leave her chest as she digested his words. He was going to disintegrate her. His finger traced a slow circle on her shoulder, sending pure ice sliding through her veins. She looked to Bakugo, all color seemed to fade from his face as he began to realize the choice he would have to make. His eyes shifted violently between the two scenes as if searching for any sign of bluffing. An emotion briefly flashed across his face that she had never seen before. Even when faced with his own death, Bakugo was always calm, cool and collected, but standing in front of her right then, it was clear he was panicking.

Glancing back at Deku, she could see tears in his eyes and the mutterings of his own internal struggle. For some reason, she couldn't find tears of her own. She knew what had to be done.

"FORGET ME, ONE FOR ALL IS MORE IMPORTANT! SAVE HIM!" She cried out. There was no second guessing for her. She had been right; the world didn't need any more Uravitys.

Both boys looked at her with shocked expressions. She hadn't known whether or not Bakugo would understand, but based on his response, it was clear he did. She smiled weakly, barely flinching as a cold hand slapped her hard across the face. She prepared herself as her executioner took another step closer.

"Stupid bit-"

The sound of the explosion cut off all else in her brain. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, savoring what she knew to be her last few seconds. The familiar warmth and smell of gunpowder put her nerves at ease. At least she was in the presence of people she loved.

She hoped they remembered her.

The hands that grabbed her were not cold, they were rough, clammy and almost too hot. She opened her eyes to find piercing red ones staring back at her. He was crouched down to her level, both hands forcefully clutching her face as if he was making sure she was real.

"Bakugo?" She blinked to ensure she was correctly comprehending what was happening. One of his thumbs wiped what must have been a loose tear from her cheek, grazing one of her more tender bruises and caused her to flinch slightly. He quickly pulled his hands back down to his side, sending gooseflesh down her arms.

"I'm sorry… I just… I couldn't…" His face looked strained and almost confused as he searched for words. It was a side of Bakugo she had never seen before, and she couldn't pull her eyes away from him.

His face morphed back into battle-mode as he glanced to where Deku had been.

She followed his gaze to find Deku still entangled with Toga, bleeding heavily, but alive. Both were on the floor, knocked back by a smaller explosion. Her knife had skidded across the room, leaving them grappling on more even ground. Even without his quirk, he was significantly stronger than her, but it would be minutes before all that bleeding left him unconscious. She whipped her head back around to see Shigaraki, who had taken a point blank blow to the chest, beginning to dust himself off. A sickening smile spread across his face despite his injuries, she had the sinking feeling that this was his desired outcome.

She looked down at her chain and blistered hands.

"This is all my fault… I'm sorry I'm so weak."

"If there is one thing you're _not_ , Angel Face," Bakugo grabbed the chain dangling from her neck, blowing through it in one fell swoop. "It's weak."

He grinned at her, setting a small object at her feet before hopping up to face the recovering Shigaraki. His confidence in his own strength, in _her_ strength, was palpable. There was no way she could let herself lose. She looked down at the dark ball, recognizing it as one of his hand grenades. She picked it up and struggled to her feet. Her muscles ached as she forced them to move despite their protest. The remains of her shackles swung against her neck as she began to walk faster, finally feeling free. She smiled wildly to herself as her bare feet began pick up speed on the concrete floor. She didn't need her quirk to be a hero.

"LET HIM GO!" She screamed as she ran. After spending almost a week in all but pure silence, her throat was already throbbing, but she couldn't care less. Toga smiled up at her, she had pulled a needle and suction from her supply and was hovering over Deku's half conscious form. He put up a weak protest as she jammed it into his neck. Thick, dark, liquid began to fill her the tank on her back. Her knife had sliced superficially, and the pool of blood forming, although concerning, was not imminently fatal. The needle in his carotid could prove more dangerous, and she would have to be careful.

She was experienced with Bakugo's hand grenades, and threw it slightly to the slide of the two, causing Toga to tumble slightly, but leaving the needle in place.

Her fist connected before the dust even cleared. The pain was intense, but the feeling of a cracking jaw under her knuckles was immensely more satisfying. Her right hand began to ooze, and she decided to follow with a kick to her stomach, putting her down at least temporarily. She ran back to Deku's bleeding form. His face was pale white, and his teary eyes were barely tracking her fingers. Reaching into the remains of her bra, she pulled out a roll of gauze she had stuffed there prior. Since getting burnt, she had been fearful of infection, and stowed away any medical supplies she had been given incase they took them away from her. She thanked whatever higher power had been watching over her as she carefully removed the needle and wrapped his wounds, temporarily stifling most of the bleeding.

"Aww, you're just a weak little girl without your quirk. Even if you could take me on, you'd never get him out of here. I've made Izuku-kun look so pretty, and I won't let you come between us!" Toga was up once again, face darkened as she prepared her assault. Uraraka looked down at the barely conscious Deku, then to her hands, half oozing and blistered. She ran her thumb over her raw index finger where the force of her punch had burst her blisters. She could feel the pad intact…

"Just watch me!" She stood up to face her, raising her arms above her head to prepare herself before slamming both palms to the ground with enough force to break any remaining blisters. The pain caused a small scream to escape her lips, but she began to laugh as she felt the pads on her fingertips pulse as she ran them across the ground.

She could see fear in Toga's eyes as she began to hesitate, unsure of what she was up against. Taking advantage of her uncertainty, she ran forward. Dodging the needle in her right hand, she dipped under to land an upward blow to her face, breaking her nose and knocking her back to the ground. She bolted forward to grab her by the ankle, feeling the familiar pull of nausea as she flung her into the air, ensuring she was out of range of her syringes.

She turned her attention back to Deku, who was already begging to soak his bandages. She jogged back to him quickly, adding another layer to try and slow the exsanguination.

"Uraraka…" He croaked out her name slowly.

"Shh shhh. Save your energy, I'm going to get you out of here." She slicked his hair back and brushed the tears from his face.

"I'm sorry… I couldn't… Save you…" His eyes closed slowly.

She checked his pulse to find it weak, but still intact. She smiled down at him softly.

"I'm saving you, silly." She could feel her eyes begin to water. He needed a hospital, and soon. She supported his head and removed his gravity, cradling him in her arms. Tsu was the first to spot her, hopping down to land near the two.

"Is he okay…? Ribbit" She placed her hand on his chest, as if needing confirmation he was still breathing herself.

"He will be if we can get him to a hospital as soon as possible." She looked around at her peers who were still fighting, but managing to hold their ground. Everyone had gotten so much stronger these last few years, but so had the League. Tsu looked at her and nodded in confirmation, whispering something into an ear piece that she couldn't quite make out. The scene before her changed as people began to group off, Kirishima and Bakugo began running towards her.

Tsu grabbed her arm above the burns and squeezed tightly. "Everything is going to be okay, Ribbit. We are finally going home." She bounded back towards the top of the building, catching a screaming Mineta, who had been precariously thrown towards the rafters.

Kirishima managed to get to her before the second flash began. Covering her eyes, he rushed her to the door, careful to avoid jostling Deku any more than necessary. The three of them made it through the door just as the room they left behind was replaced with a large cloud of white smoke, also courtesy of Toru. They had obviously planned this rescue meticulously. She didn't ask any questions as they ran, her bare feet scraping on the cold sidewalk. A gust of wind hit her skin, making her realize how underdressed she was, but she was too busy relishing the fresh air to care.

"Red team clear." Kirishima spoke softly into his earpiece. A small pause followed before he turned and gave them both a big smile and a thumbs up. "Everyone made it out okay! But we probably need to avoid stopping until we get to the hospital which should take a bit. It's unlikely they will catch up to us, but sounds like some of them tried to follow."

The three of them ran for what felt like an hour in complete silence. Snow had begun to fall, blanketing the ground in a white dust. Carrying a weightless Deku for so long was starting to pull at her stomach, and between the nausea and her feet going numb, she didn't know how much farther she could go. She stumbled slightly, falling onto her knee before quickly recovering herself and slowing to a brisk walk.

"Aah man, Uraraka. Not offering to carrying Deku for you was super unmanly of me." Kirishima reached to take him from her.

"No! I'm fine… We go faster if I float him! Really! I don't want to be a burd-" A wave of nausea hit her, causing her to drop to her hands and knees to vomit. Luckily Kirishima was already in place to grab Deku, allowing her to release her quirk. A final wave of nausea set in causing her to double over, it had been a long time since she had let her quirk get to her like that, and she was embarrassed to be slowing them down. She felt a warm hand touching her neck, pulling the matted, burnt mess that used to be her hair away from her face. Goosebumps flooded down her arms and legs as she looked up into red eyes.

"It's stupid to try and keep going when you need help." Bakugo helped her up to her feet. He looked her up and down and she could feel her face reddening. "You're cold."

She stared at him incredulously. "Yeah? And water's wet. I've not really had much in the option of coats the last few days."

Kirishima bust out into laughter, and she could see the tips of Bakugo's ears turn red. The whole scene made her feel like a normal person again. Even in a dire situation, it lifted her spirits to know she was around friends. The red head jerked his head through his laughter to indicate they should keep moving. She begrudgingly began to follow, albeit slowly.

"Here." Bakugo had his eyes glued to the ground as he handed her his gauntlets. "They are made to help keep in heat, so they may help you not fucking die of exposure."

The moment she slipped them over her arms she realized what he had meant. They were like mini saunas, and it felt heavenly on her cold skin. Unfortunately, they were also very heavy, slowing her down. She used her quirk to remove their gravity before chasing after Kirishima, but after only a few steps she was lifted off the ground by a pair of strong arms and pulled close to his chest.

"I don't want to watch you vomiting or shivering anymore, so I'll just fucking carry you."

She wanted to protest, but she couldn't deny how tired she was. His chest was warm, and she could hear his heart pounding as they continued on, lulling her into a dozy state. For the first time in a week she felt herself relax.

"Katsuki?" She felt him stiffen at the use of his name, she giggled slightly, earning an annoyed growl in return. "Thank you."

"It's our fucking job, Round face. You know that." He frowned down at her.

"No, not for saving me… Well… Thank you for that too, but… Thank you for trusting me back there. Not many people would have let me fight…"

"Why wouldn't I? You're a good fucking hero."

She smiled up at him with what was probably a gruesome and bruised lopsided grin before burying her face into his chest. She felt tears begin to flow freely down her cheeks and soak into his shirt. She couldn't tell if they were tears of relief, happiness, or sadness, but she couldn't seem to stop them. If Bakugo noticed, he didn't say anything. All she could focus on was his warmth and the sound of his steady breathing as they bounded on into the night.

The sound of sirens was the last thing she heard before finally drifting off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Here is the next chapter! I am already a bit into chapter 12 and will hopefully have it up by the end of the week. Chapter 13 will be the last one, and it will probably be a week or two before I get to it because I may be getting married this weekend. So that's cool.**

 **Enjoy! Please comment and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 11-

His eyes fluttered open slowly, he couldn't remember where he was or how he had gotten there. Head pounding and body weak, Izuku tried to take in his surroundings. The room was familiar with pale green walls and school health posters.

But why was he in Recovery Girl's office?

The night came flooding back to him. Facing the league, Urakaka's face, blood….

Uraraka…

He sat straight up only to be met with more pounding in his head.

"Oh good, you're awake," Recovery Girl rolled over to him in her computer chair. "Try not to make too much noise now, you _are_ sharing the room."

She smiled at him, nodding her head towards the other side of the room. He glanced to the bed on his left to find Uraraka, sleeping peacefully. He could feel himself relax, knowing she was safe, but he still couldn't remember how they had gotten there. The chair beside her bed was occupied by another sleeping form, and it took him a bit to recognize the tuft of blonde hair.

"Kacchan?"

"Ah yes, Mr. Bakugou brought you two here, and despite me insisting, I couldn't convince him to leave." She began to poke and prod at him, touching a tender spot on his neck. He instinctively reached his hand up to find bandages. Confusion must have been visible on his face, because she continued to explain. "You know, you kids keep me very busy. The hospital didn't deem it safe to hold you there considering the circumstances so they sent you to me. Apparently you almost bled to death, and you've been out for almost a day now. Luckily someone was handy with bandages, or you likely wouldn't be sitting here right now."

He glanced over to where Uraraka slept, she was hooked up to a bag, but seemed stable.

"Miss Uraraka will be fine. She has been in and out of sleep most of the evening. She had some bad bruises and burns and was pretty malnourished, but I predict her largest problems will be less… physical than your own." She smiled comfortingly, patting him on the cheek. "She's a strong girl, and she has good friends."

She hopped down from her chair, and scurried over to the other side of the room, drawing the curtain around the other bed. "Now that you are conscious, it's better to give you both a bit of privacy. And Mr. Midoriya?" She sat on the side of his bed and flicked his forehead hard enough that it smarted a bit.

"I'm glad you are all okay, but if you keep doing wildly stupid things like this I _will_ stop taking care of you lot."

She muttered under her breath as she hit the lights and left them alone in the room. Based on the darkness outside the window, it was getting late, and the school building was likely closing for the night. He glanced over at Recovery Girl's desk, the simple paper calendar read Friday the first of December. The last he remembered, it had been Wednesday night, and the disconnect was disorienting. He reached for a hand mirror that was sitting on the stand beside the bed to examine his neck. The bandages covered most of it. He remembered being held at knife point by Toga, but not much after that. Waiting a few minutes to ensure Recovery Girl would not be returning, he slowly unwrapped the bandages. The sight caused him to cringe. He had about 20 stitches spanning across his neck horizontally, with another few on the side vertically. The skin around it was red and swollen, but it had started to heal together, and there was no blood that he could see. He set the mirror back on the stand, clumsily rewrapping his neck and lying down into his bed.

If they had planned to kill him, then they had failed, but they had come closer than they ever had before. He stared silently at the ceiling, trying to will sleep to come to him instead of thinking of how badly he had failed. They had set a trap for him and he had fallen straight into it like some sort of idiot. If it hadn't been for Kacchan and the others, both he and Uraraka would have been dead. A real hero like All Might wouldn't have needed backup…

The sound of movement in the bed next to him was a welcome distraction. He thought about calling out to see if either of them were awake, but the idea of facing his failure felt like too much for him right now. His eyes begin to well with tears as he pulled the blanket closer to his face. The thought of what he was going to tell his mother was looming over him.

"Bakugou?" The sound of Uraraka's quiet voice floated through the room.

"Oye, Round Face, you're finally awake. You've been in and out of it all fucking night."

"What time is it? How's Deku?" She sounded so concerned, making him feel even guiltier. The light of a phone lit up the curtain momentarily, casting shadows of the two across the room.

"Friday night. The old hag said he was looking better and should be awake soon. Typical Shitty nerd, being fucking weak."

"So it's been a full week since I've been back here…" He could hear the sadness in her voice.

"Yeah and it was fucking boring as shit without you to beat up on. Why do you think we came after you?"

Kacchan was being… playful?

"Did I miss much?" Her reply was much more upbeat.

The dynamics of this conversation were incredibly confusing to him.

"How the fuck would I know? I pretty much spent all of the week in that fucking hell hole they claim is a hospital. I was only back one day before we came to find you. That's how fucking boring it was."

Uraraka actually giggled. "Shh! Bakugo, Deku is sleeping!"

"If you ask me, it's 'bout time that shitty nerd got up, he's been out for fucking ever."

He heard the sound of shuffling before Uraraka gasped loudly.

"My hair! Where did it go?!"

"Yeah… It got pretty fucking rank so they cut it. Turns out rolling in dirt and blood and not showering for a week causes some hygiene problems." He laughed loudly before the faint sound of a slap stopped him short. "Hey! I never said it looked bad! You women are all so fucking sensitive."

"Ugh, it took so long to grow it out. How are the others?"

"Well don't start crying on me! And I don't know shit, I've been in this chair for fucking ever."

"I should've known, it smells like you've not showered in weeks."

Izuku's confusion was growing. This was not the way he and Uraraka talked. She was always so gentle and kindhearted…

"I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT YOU TO DIE YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE-"

"Shh!" She was giggling again. He had never really noted it before, but other than Kirishima, Uraraka had always been less scared of Kacchan than the rest of their class. She had chewed him out once for bullying him, and hearing them joke around like that made them sound like… Friends?

"Seriously though, thank you for staying. I don't think I'm ready to be alone just yet."

Hearing her say that tore his heart. She had been through so much in the last week, and he wasn't even be there for her when she needed someone most. But she had Kacchan…

He could hear him grumble an embarrassed response.

"Well, my hands _feel_ better, but I can't say the same for how they look… These scars on my palms don't look like they plan on fading any time soon…"

"Well, you did slam your burnt hands onto fucking concrete, so I'm not surprised. I'd make fun of you for it, but it was pretty fucking badass."

"You were watching me during that fight?" Izuku could almost _hear_ her face turn red in embarrassment.

"Hard fucking not to. You were running around half naked and laughing like a fucking mad woman." There was a pause and an audible shuffle where he was certain Uraraka was hiding herself under the blankets. "But hey, I guess we match now."

"Your hands are so rough…"

"I do basically blow shit up with them for a fucking living."

Something hit deep in Izuku's stomach. This was more than Bakugo being friendly for once… This was him _flirting_ … He felt his face get hot as his body filled with confusing emotions. Part of him was happy for Kacchan to be taking another step out of his angry shell, but the other part was confused, hurt, sad, and maybe even a little jealous.

He had gone his entire life desperately wanting to be a hero, but he had never really felt jealous before. But it wasn't a hard emotion to identify, and it made him feel incredibly guilty. He knew logically that he and Uraraka weren't in a relationship, but it didn't stop the gnawing feeling that Kacchan was trying to take something that was his.

Just acknowledging the feeling made him feel even guiltier.

He realized that he was mumbling audibly, and tried to hide listening in on their conversation with a large yawn.

"Sounds like Sleeping Fuckwad is finally awake."

"Deku!" The curtain between them was almost ripped off its hooks by the force of her excited pulling. Turning his head towards them slowly to avoid anymore headaches, he saw her sitting on the edge of her own bed. She was in a hospital gown, bruises faded down to patchy yellow and brown on her skin. Long tendrils of chocolate hair fell around her teary eyes, but it had been haphazardly cut in the back, falling jaggedly around her shoulders. Her hands were what caught his attention, the backs looked almost normal with just a bit of redness, but her palms were ripped, red and scarred where there had once been smooth, white skin. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried!"

She rose from her bed to jump onto his and he noticed her feet were bandaged as well. She gave him a crushing embrace, carefully avoiding his neck.

"You do know there's no backs on those fucking gowns, right?" Kacchan was bright pink, averting his gaze out the window.

Uraraka turned the deepest shade of red he had ever seen before crawling back into her own bed and wrapping the blankets around herself tightly. Her embarrassment was palpable as he desperately looked to change the subject.

"What happened to your feet?" He pointed at the bandages covering up to her mid shin.

"Well, I carried you out of the building and I was so concerned about running away I forgot that I didn't have any shoes!" She scratched the back of her head, still sporting a soft shade of pink. "Turns out you can get minor frost bite running barefoot in the snow, but I'm just fine now! Got to keep all my toes and everything!"

"You carried me…?" He couldn't recall any of her story and he felt even guiltier for causing her more pain.

"Yeah, you ran in there like a stupid asshole and got your quirk fucking sapped and we had to save your ass. Then you went and got your fucking throat slit by that crazy bitch. Luckily our crazy bitch here beat the shit out of her and saved your goddamn life." Kacchan was lazily tipping his chair back, remaining unusually calm.

"It's all my fault." She had her eyes focused on her own hands, gripping the blankets forcefully. "I went and got myself captured. You were doing really well until they threatened to hurt me. I'm sorry, Deku."

"No, no, no!" He waved his hands frantically. "I'm just upset that I couldn't do more to help you!"

"Well, I'm back now, right?" She smiled sweetly at him and he felt his heart melt.

A knock at the door pulled his attention to the front of the room. It was too late for anyone to be on campus, and the looming figure outside was much too tall for recovery girl. The other two apparently had come to the same conclusion, looking prepared to pounce.

The door creaked open slowly, allowing the hall lights to illuminate the tall, thin, figure of All Might.

"Do you have to be so fucking sneaky? I could have fucking blasted you." Kacchan eased slowly back into his seat.

"My apologies, young Bakugo, I just meant to have a conversation with young Midoriya here about the events of the last few days. I was not expecting the room to be so full." He flicked on the lights and glanced around with his deep set eyes, landing on Uraraka. "Miss Uraraka, I apologize for the intrusion and we can have this conversation at some other time."

"Well, no use in fucking leaving now, she knows about One for All somehow."

A memory flashed through Izuku's head of the three of them back in the warehouse. The cold knife against his neck, and looking into Uraraka's eyes as she yelled at Kacchan to save him and let her die. He glanced over at her to see her smiling apologetically. The look she had given him that night told him she really was prepared to die for him. Would he have been able to say the same for himself?

"I pieced it together from listening to them. They talked about Deku being quirkless, and inheriting One for All from All Might. And it kind of made sense with him having all these new powers and the relationship you two have…" She was fidgeting with the blanket as if she was being admonished for knowing. All Might walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, I'm sure you understand this is a secret we would like to keep well protected. Besides young Bakugo here, very few other people know about this, and it's important to keep it that way. It does worry me how much they know about the quirk thouhgh."

He strode back towards the door and coughed into his hand, trying to hide the blood that covered his palm. It always made Izuku cringe to see him like that.

"You can have young Midoriya explain the details to you later, but we have a more pressing matter now. This was a trap laid for you, Izuku. So what happened that night? They must know enough to understand the quirk can't be passed unwillingly, so their motives are hard to understand."

Between the three of them, they were able to piece together the entire night. Uraraka had learned that they specifically wanted his blood, and apparently they were able to get a decent amount of it.

"Their goal has always been to destabilize hero culture, but I don't see what they gain from this." He looked down at his own hands, clenching them into fists. "None of it makes any sense."

"The only time we've seen the enemies use blood was with Eri…" Uraraka sat on the edge on her bed with the blanket wrapped around her tightly. "But it wasn't really the League's science that created it, we don't really know much of what they are capable."

"That's a good point, miss Uraraka. I think it may be beneficial to take a look at the blood ourselves, to see if we can pinpoint any features of One for All I may not have known before. There is so much to the quirk that young Midoriya has newly discovered, that it's possible we haven't even scratched the surface of it's potential. Let's just hope that whatever they are planning, it's something the pros can handle. You all have been through too much already." He opened the door quietly. "Now it's almost midnight, so you all need sleep. And I'm sure they would prefer you back in your own room young Bakugo, I know classes were canceled, but you still are a student. I can escort you if you'd like."

"Fuck that. I don't need a fucking chaperone."

"Whatever you say, be safe you three." He hit the lights before leaving them alone in the dark room.

Kacchan made no effort to leave as they sat in silence. Uraraka laid back down into bed, and Izuku followed suit. They all had a lot to think about after the talk with All Might, and his mind was racing a mile a minute.

What did they need his blood for? Did they mean for him to live? What if it helped them hurt people? What kind of hero would that make him?

After what felt like hours of silently gazing at the ceiling, he glanced to his left to see the other two had fallen asleep. He closed his eyes to try and follow suit.

Images of Shigaraki filled his brain.

 _There were bodies and blood everywhere. Smoke rose from the burnt city as Shigaraki stood laughing in the center._

 _"What have you done!" He could feel the tears running down his cheeks._

 _"What have I done? I didn't do any of this Izuku Midoriya, it was all you. You caused all this pain."_

 _"That's not true!" He tried to run towards him but his body refused to move. There was crying in the distance._

 _"Now which one of us is the real villain?" He disappeared into a cloud of smoke, blending in to the burning rubbing._

 _His body began to stand despite his attempts to resist. He looked down to find dark strings connected to him, forcing him to move forward against his own will. He followed the dark strings to find All for One, controlling his every action. His body walked on it's own up to one of the buildings still standing. He felt power build in his arm as his fist struck hard, demolishing the building into rubble. People cried out to him for help as they fell into the fires below._

 _"Now, would the Symbol of Peace really do this? See how much power we have together?"_

 _He heard a woman screaming as he fell into a pit of darkness._

He jerked awake in his bed to the continued sound of yelling coming from the room. Sitting up straight he turned his whole body towards the sound to find Uraraka writhing in her bed, tears streaming down her face. He was at a loss for what to do as he watched her thrash in her bed. A hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder softly. She softened at the contact, silencing her night terrors. His eyes met the red glare of Kacchan, an unspoken death wish communicated between the two of them. Bakugo did not do comfort, and it was obvious he did not want this moment to escape the room.

Izuku broke eye contact first, sliding back down into his bed. This was likely what Recovery Girl meant by less physical problems, and he had no idea how to fix it for her, but somehow Kacchan did. The boy who had once told him to kill himself was able to help Uraraka better than he could himself. He turned towards the door and pulled the blanket over his head. The entire situation made him feel like a mopey child. The symbol of peace would be able to help everyone on his own, and he definitely wouldn't get jealous over a girl.

Sleep didn't come easy to him, and when he awoke, he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Light was streaming through the window and the clock on the wall read eight in the morning. He glanced over to find Uraraka and Kacchan still asleep, although the latter had wet hair and a new set of clothes. Izuku was surprised he was able to get out and back in without waking anyone. Maybe he was more tired than he had originally thought.

The morning also brought visiting hours. Recovery Girl was back to check on them at half past eight, and their classmates came around nine.

"I can't believe you decided to disobey all the rules to run out again. More importantly, not telling anyone was incredibly irresponsible!" Iida was one of the more vocal of his peers present.

"Sorry, Iida. I was scared if I told any heroes, they would hurt Uraraka." He rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

"Uraraka… I am very glad to see you are okay. We've been worried sick about you." He walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Bakugo." Iida was very curt, and had obviously not forgiven him. "I'm not sure why you are here, but if you touch her agai-"

"Back the fuck off Four Eyes." Bakugo walked over and got close to his face, likely knowing it would rile him up.

"I don't want any perver-"

"Iida! I'm so glad to see you! I'd get up and hug you if I wasn't in this gown!" She pulled at the gown emphatically. "Sorry I caused so much trouble for you. For everyone." She gestured at the group.

"You didn't cause us any trouble at all!" Kaminari chimed in from somewhere inside the group. "Iida is just mad he wasn't invited along."

"Thank all of you so much for coming to help me. I really didn't think I was going to make it out…" She looked down at her hands with a sad smile.

The crowd got quiet before erupting into apologies and greetings. Uraraka knew how to calm down a room, it was hard to look at her and not want to make her happy.

Izuku could tell the group was tipping towards overwhelming. The room was already overrun with people and flowers when the he saw two adults standing behind the gaggle of teenagers. He had never seen them before, but they were instantly recognizable. Both looked tired beyond their years, but the rosy cheeks and chocolate hair were unmistakable. When they made themselves known, the group immediately made their way to the door, saying their goodbyes as they left to give her privacy. Kacchan remained planted in his chair by the wall.

"Mom… Dad…" Uraraka began to cry at the site of them. "I'm so sorry, I'm sure I've worried you so much! I'm sorry for all the hospital bills and I'm sorry you had to take off work to come see me!"

The flood of apologies flowed with her tears as they held her. He remembered that her family struggled with money, and it seemed like she was apologizing more for being expensive than almost dying.

"No need to apologize, we are just glad you are in one piece." Her mother sat on the bed, hugging her ferociously.

"You must be Izuku Midoriya, we have heard a lot about you. You saved her, right? We owe you so much." Her father had the same kind eyes.

"Well, I tried to save her, but I didn't do a very good job obviously." He reached his hand towards his neck to fiddle with the bandages. Glancing over towards Kacchan, he saw no attempt to correct them or take credit. Adding to his new, unusual character.

"Nonsense! We know how important you are to our daughter! We are just glad she has such a strong friend to come rescue her." He placed his hand onto Izuku's shoulder and smiled.

"Pft." Kacchan had apparently hit his limit.

"And you must be Katsuki Bakugo. The one who beat up our daughter at the sports festival." Uraraka's father demeanor had made a complete shift.

"Dad…"

"I didn't beat her up. She was my opponent, and a damn strong one. Deku is just lucky Uraraka saved his sorry ass when his shitty plan failed."

Izuku felt himself relax. That wasn't as bad as it could have been. The two of them held eye contact for an uncomfortably long period of time, broken only by Uraraka's mother running and enveloping Kacchan in a large hug.

"Did you help save our little Pumpkin too? Thank you so much!"

Izuku couldn't help but laugh. Kacchan obviously had no idea what to do in the situation, and his arms extruded at awkward angles, unable to comprehend where to place them.

"Your welcome…" He muttered it quietly, face so red that it looked almost painful.

"Now now, that's enough excitement in my office for one day." Recovery Girl hopped down from her chair, shooing Uraraka's parents and Kacchan towards the door. "Miss Uraraka, your friend Miss Asui brought you a change of clothes, if you would like you are free to leave and spend a bit more time with you parents." She pulled the curtain, allowing Uraraka to change.

Izuku hid his eyes, even the shadow of her changing brought warmth to his cheeks. He had a hard time around girls when he remembered they were actually girls. After she finished, the Uraraka family said their goodbyes and left together. Kacchan stayed behind, staring him down with a look he couldn't quite comprehend.

"We have one more guest tonight, but I will give you some privacy. I advise Mr. Bakugo to do the same." She opened the door to reveal his mother.

Her eyes immediately began watering when she saw him. Taking in the newly empty room she bowed to Recovery Girl and turned to face Kacchan.

"Katsuki…" She hugged him, barely coming up to his chest. He looked much less uncomfortable than he had before with Uraraka's mother, and even place one arm awkwardly around her. But then again, his mother brought out the best in people. She nodded at both of them as they took their leave. Turning to face him, she pulled Recovery Girl's chair towards the bed and sat down next to him, taking his hand in hers. Her right hand made its way to his neck as she traced the bandages that Recovery Girl had carefully rewrapped early that morning.

"You've become such a great hero, Izuku. I keep thinking that one of these days I'm going to run out of tears, but they always seem to keep coming." She let them flow freely with no attempt to wipe them from her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you, but I selfishly wish you would take a break from scaring me to death."

Her smile was sad. In the past two years her hair had begun turn gray, wrinkles were now etched on her forehead highlighting years of frowning, and pale skin hung loosely off hollow cheeks. The cause of the change was obvious, which was one of the reasons he avoided home so often. It made him feel guilty to see her like this.

"I know… But it was my fault that she… I was supposed to be at that gala, not her." The tears began to fall from his own cheeks the moment he spoke. He wanted to explain everything to her, but he couldn't' betray All Might, and settled on a semi truth. "And it was my responsibility to save her."

"Even if it was your responsibility, did you have to go alone?" She used his own hand to wipe some of her tears. It was clear from whom he got his emotional habits. "You have such strong friends, Izuku, and they would do anything to help you if you'd let them."

"But it was Uraraka… And she is so… Well she i-"

"Is also a hero." She cut him off before he could explain his feelings. "You know, I'm not as oblivious as you think I am. I've seen how you look at her, and how you react when you hear her name."

He felt his already damp cheeks begin to redden. Unable to conjure up a reply, he sat in silence for what felt like minutes. The only sound the occasional sniffle as he watched his mother coordinate her words.

"It's my fault... I tried so hard to shield you from the world, from any kind of pain, that I didn't realize I put so much on you. I depended on you for everything. For support, friendship, and I even made you help with the household finances. You've always been my hero, Izuku. For everything."

"I do those things for you because I love you, mom." He was thoroughly confused by her sudden shift in the conversation.

"Is she a strong hero?" She shifted the topic yet again.

"Uraraka? She is kind, and pretty, and smart, and her quirk has lots of uses, especially in search and rescu-"

"But is she strong? When she fights are you worried about her, or proud? Does the thought of having her by your side in battle comfort, or scare you? Do you want to be with her, or protect her?" Her tone was soft and comforting, but also slightly accusatory. It surprised him coming from his mother.

"I… I don't know…" He answered truthfully. It had never really crossed his mind before, but he spent a lot of time worrying about Uraraka. He had even thrown a few battle exams to help her out. Thinking about their future together, he had never really thought about her being out and fighting without him there to protect her.

"When I got married, I gave up everything for your father. I depended on him to survive, and when he left us, I began depending on you and that's not a healthy way to live, or to love someone. I think I may have been a bad role model for what a relationship should be…" She looked him straight in the eyes and smiled. His mother had never really talked about her relationship with his father before. It was slightly unnerving to think about, but it was one of the first times he had ever heard her talk about a feeling that wasn't concern for him.

"You were, and still are, the best son any mother could ask for. You have always taken care of me, just like you always try to take care of everyone else. But even the strongest heroes can't save everyone by themselves. You have to rely on other people as Deku and Izuku." She leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "I don't know if any of my rambling made any sense, but I hope you trust your friends to help you a little more, on and off the battlefield."

They sat together quietly for awhile while their tears dried and he digested what she had told him. The world needed another symbol of peace, and only he could step up to the plate and fill the giant shoes All Might left behind. His mother wasn't able to comprehend the weight that being the bearer of One for All placed on his shoulders. He didn't have the luxury of being able to have normal relationships. All he wanted for his life was to be a hero that could compare to All Might, and take away the pain of everyone he loved.

Squeezing her hand tightly, he put on a large smile. He may not have fully understood what she was trying to convey, but he wasn't about to tell her anything that would stress her anymore.

"I understand, and I'll do my best." His smile didn't feel genuine, but it was at least enough to please his mother.

"You always do." She stood from the chair, stretching out her legs, and bending down to give him a kiss on the forehead. "I'm sure that kind woman would like her office back. So it's probably best if I leave you to rest."

She was halfway to the door when she turned to face him. "You know Izuku, I love you very much. I worry about you constantly, but I don't think I tell you that I love you that enough."

"You tell me all the time!" He laughed softly, his smile genuine this time.

"You can never tell people how you feel about them enough." She turned and exited the room quietly, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He may not have comprehended her entire message, but there was one thing that came across clear. Having One for All meant his life was never going to be easy, and he would likely continue to have close calls like he had in the warehouse. He reached up to fiddle with his bandages again, knowing he would face Recovery Girls wrath for it later.

He needed to be honest about his feelings. He needed to find Urakaka…

Probably after giving himself a few days to work up the courage….


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, sorry this is like... weeks late. My computer decided it didn't want to work anymore and I ended up getting a new one. (Also wedding, honeymoon, graduation, etc...) But I will be sitting alone in my house without internet for the next week so I should get the last chapter up un a reasonable time (or split it into two if it looks like it be too long.)**

 **Enjoy! And let me know if you have any suggestions/critiques/feelings in general**

Chapter 12-

People's parents creeped him the fuck out. Well… Functional families creeped him out. Bakugo had worked his hardest to put as much space between himself, Uraraka's parents and Inko Midoriya as he possibly could. That entire thirty-minute reunion was a fucking cry fest he could have dealt without. His own mother had reacted much more predictably to finding out he had snuck out for the rescue mission, with a lovely text telling him that if he got expelled for this he would be kicked in the face with a stiletto heel. She had also told him she was glad to hear they all made it out without anyone dying, which was probably the closest thing to human feelings the old hag could muster.

It was cold as shit outside and it had just started snowing. Instead of heading back to the dorms, he found himself walking multiple laps around the school building. He had been avoiding all the extras since they had come back from the hospital, and he wasn't feeling like having a fucking reunion any time soon. There were going to be questions, and if there was one thing in the world he hated most, it was being interrogated like some fucking kid in trouble.

He had lost his cool at that warehouse. The fucking nerd had almost died because he had panicked and given them too long to prepare. He rubbed his eyes roughly with his palms. Even Shitty Hair had noticed his mistake, and was no doubt waiting somewhere near his room to have some sort of emotional heart to fucking heart about it. He wasn't fucking prepared to deal with any of this shit right now. His hands sparked just thinking about it, and he found they were clammy with sweat despite the frigid air.

Looking back on the night, he could barely recall anything he had said to her. All he had were clips of her yelling at him to let her die, fighting through bruises and blisters, freezing to death covered in Deku's blood, and lying motionless in his arms… It was fucking up his head. He had never fought a battle before where his goal wasn't to win, but all he had cared about that night was getting her back safely. Hell, he had even refused to leave her side afterwards like some sort of fucking guard dog.

After they had taken her and Deku back to trauma rooms, he had been forced to sit outside in a fucking waiting room with shitty hair. He had asked what Bakugo assumed to be a list of the most fucking uncomfortable questions he could think of. It had taken almost thirty minutes of being ignored for him to get the fucking picture that they would not be talking about goddamn feelings while people could be fucking dying. Unfortunately, Kirishima was persistent, and he knew he'd have to face him eventually, or spend the rest of his life actively avoiding him. Honestly, avoiding everyone for fucking ever seemed like a pretty good option to him at the moment, but the snow had other ideas as it began to fall harder, turning his path into a hazy white, borderline blizzard.

He fucking hated the cold, and pulling his jacket tighter around himself wasn't helping him any. A quick glance at his phone told him it was almost five in the evening, meaning he had been walking the same fucking lap for hours. His hair was damp from the snow, and his clothes weren't much better off. The feeling in his feet had been gone for almost an hour, and based on the growing layer of snow on the ground, they would only get colder.

He decided to make the dreaded journey back to the dorms. The fucking extras had been blowing up his phone the entire day about some shit they were planning, and it took everything in his power to not literally blow up his own phone in his efforts to ignore them. He checked the messages briefly, just to check what he was getting himself into.

Movie night.

If there was a group event he could tolerate, it was definitely sitting in a dark room without having to fucking see or speak to anyone else. They likely planned it because no one really knew what to say, and with Uraraka returning to the dorms, it was going to be fucking awkward for everyone. He used his sleeve in an attempt to wipe the snow off his phone, only succeeding in making it wetter. Shoving it back in his pocket, he lowered his head against the frigid wind.

The news had mostly ignored the rescue mission. It had been reported that Uraraka had been found and brought back safely, but the details were mostly obscured. Meaning a lot of their classmates were still in the dark about what exactly had happened. With the gravity of the situation, her privacy was important, but it wasn't like the media to ignore a story that had been all over the headlines just a few days prior. He assumed that meant the police weren't able to find any of the fuckers, and weren't comfortable letting the public know that baddies were still roaming the streets.

He could hear voices from inside the dorm before it was visible through the snow. His shoes and coat were soaked from the fucking blizzard, and he slipped them off before entering. He was met with a wave of warmth that was almost suffocating, matched in intensity only by the sheer brightness of the room. There were multicolored Christmas lights strung throughout the entire main area, and almost every fucking surface was covered in holly or some other tacky decoration. There were multiple people bustling around him, failing to notice his presence as he threw his wet jacket and shoes on the floor. Raccoon eyes was on top of a ladder, hanging green shit on the ceiling, while Shitty hair steadied her from below. They were laughing while he pretended to shake her off, too engulfed in one another to notice anything at all. He felt fucking nauseous just watching them. Icy Hot and the Nerd girl were sitting near a tree in the corner, making decorations while Pikachu was trying his hardest to distract Jiro from hanging them.

Since when did the fucking class pair off like goddamn rabbits? And how were they able to act like the last few days didn't even fucking happen? The growing nausea in his stomach didn't dissipate at all as he made his way into the boys' locker room. He threw off his wet clothes and hopped straight into a steaming shower, letting the scalding water slowly return the feeling to his body.

"Yo, Bakugo!" Fuck. He could hear Shitty Hair enter the locker room and the door shut behind him. He stayed silent, letting the water run down his face, hoping he could outlast his patience with silence. "I know it's you in there. You left your wet clothes out there for us to clean up."

Double Fuck. He grunted in response, knowing there was little chance of being left alone for the night.

"You better not be planning on skipping out on the movie night. People are worried about you, man." Kirishima's shadow was visible through the thin curtain. He sat on the bench directly in front of the shower, effectively blocking his escape. Were they really going to have this fucking conversation while he was naked?

"I never said I wasn't going." Bakugo turned the dial a bit cooler, preserving all the hot water he could. If he was going to be forced into an emotional discussion, he was going to at least hole himself up in the shower and not have to look at anyone while doing it. "I don't know if you noticed, but it's a fucking blizzard outside, and those tend to be fucking cold as shit."

"This is your first time back in the dorms in days, Bakugo. Something happened back in that warehouse, and I'm sure it has something to do with what I walked in on with you and Midoriya, and I know it has something to do with that kiss."

He could almost feel the fucking accusatory look plastered all over his stupid face. The water continued to run over him as he thought of how to respond. The usual yelling and glaring didn't work on Kirishima, and he knew he wouldn't leave him alone until he got some sort of suitable answer. He groaned as the water began to cool, hastening his response even further. It wouldn't surprise him if Shitty Hair had somehow fucked with the pipes to force him to talk.

"I don't know why I kissed her." He felt his body shudder at his own words and turned the handle as hot as it would go. He waited for a reply but was met with only silence. "In that warehouse, she told me to let her die and save fucking Deku and I fucking lost composure." There was steam rising from his skin as the water hit him, but he still felt like ice. He braced his hands against the wall of the shower for support, letting the scalding liquid run down his face and back.

"It was my fucking fault she was taken, and the thought of losing her… I moved without thinking and I almost let someone fucking die."

"None of that is your fault, man." His response was short. Bakugo paused a bit to see if he would end the conversation, but he stayed silent and unmoving. The water had gone cold and he turned it off, leaning against the shower's tile wall.

"And I fucking thought everything would go back to goddamn normal when we got back, but everyone seems normal except me." His right hand was gripping the handle so forcefully that his knuckles were white and his arm shaking.

"My chest is still aching and my brain is fogged up with all this shit. I can't stop fucking thinking about it."

The words had come out louder than he intended and seemed to echo throughout the room. He released his grasp on the handle, rubbing his irritated eyes with his palms as he slowly became more aware of the fact he was fucking yelling while standing naked in a shower without any water running.

He heard a shuffling noise and looked up in time to catch a large towel being thrown over the curtain. Wrapping it around his waist, he gruffly yanked the curtain open to find Shitty hair smiling at him. He tossed him a pair of boxers, some shorts and a black top.

"You corner me and force me to tell you my fucking feelings and now you are going to fucking laugh? And where the fuck did you get my clothes from?" Bakugo slipped the shorts on underneath the towel, using it to rub his face and hair before tossing it aside and putting on the shirt.

"Your locker. And I'm not laughing at you!" He punched him lightly in the arm, earning a deadly glare. "I'm just relieved"

"I've told you before to stay the fuck out of my locker. And relieved about fucking what?"

"How else am I supposed to stop you from running and hiding in your room? We worked really hard on decorating for this movie night so we could try and make Uraraka happy when she gets back. I remember when the League took you and afterwards yo-"

"Shut it, Hair for Brains." He wasn't in the mood for that reminder. "Fuck it. Let's go watch a goddamn movie."

"Hey Bakugo!" He turned to find Shitty Hair with a shit eating grin on his face. "I think we both know why you kissed her."

He could tell what he was insinuating and felt his face get warm. Noticing his old, sweaty, wet clothes in the corner of his eyes, he reached down and grabbed them, quickly launching them directly at Kirishima's face. Apparently expecting an explosion, he had hardened his body and when the wet clothes hit him, he stumbled back.

"Gross! Dude! These smell like shit!"

"You were the one fucking asking to die, Shit face." He felt a grin grow on his face as the red head began to fume and chase him back towards the common area, small explosions barely missing his face along the way. They both stopped suddenly when they entered the newly decorated room.

Even Bakugo had to admit it looked decent, although he felt like he had been sucked into some some sappy fucking Christmas movie. The main lights were off, leaving only the strand lights around the room, casting a warm glow. They had somehow fashioned some sort of fireplace near the couch that looked like it had real fire blazing in it. The room smelled like pine trees and apple cider as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Aww, you guys finished up everything without me! My bad! It looks great it here though. And the cider smells awesome!" Shitty Hair, forgetting their battle, strolled passed him to pour two glasses of cider, handing one to him. "Better claim a good seat on the couch, we should be starting soon!"

Bakugo followed, ignoring the questioning glances from the fucking extras. He took his seat on the edge of the couch to avoid sitting next to as many people as possible. Kirishima and Racoon eyes piled in next to him, and it wasn't long before the couch and part of the floor were filled with people as well. Frog bitch sat by his right leg, smiling up at him with that stupid face of hers like she knew something he didn't. Ears sat next to his left leg, sharing a blanket with Pikachu, making everyone uncomfortable.

They were getting ready to start the movie when she walked in. She was wearing a large, patched, brown coat, and there was snow dusting her hair and clothes. After removing her coat and shoes, Bakugo watched her take in the room. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the lights as she spun around to see everything, shaking the loose snow from her hair. She turned to the group, her cheeks and nose were red from the cold, and the huge smile plastered on her face caused a skipping sensation in his chest. He coughed slightly to get whatever was stuck in his throat out and her eyes moved to his, causing the feeling to come right goddam back.

"Ochaco!" Frog bitch pulled her eyes away from his own, patting the spot next to her on the floor. "We saved you a seat! Come join us!"

Uraraka nodded happily before taking the seat next to the Frog and between his own legs. The feeling of her hair brushing against him sent a shiver up his spine, and he braced himself to avoid any visible movement.

What the fuck was wrong with him? His heart was beating too fast for comfort and he couldn't pinpoint why. He took a few deep breaths, pulling his heart rate back down to normal. The movie was already half an hour in, and he was having difficulty focusing on what was happening. It seemed to be some sort of romantic comedy, and the main characters were apparently fucking too blind to see obvious shit.

He wasn't the only one that thought it was stupid, about an hour in, Shitty Hair was leaning on his shoulder and drooling, while Jiro was using his left knee as a pillow with Pikachu draped across her lap, snoring softly. Raccoon eyes was glued to the screen and crying. He heard more stupid noises coming from the space beside her, where he assumed the Invisible girl was sitting. The other side of the couch was at least awake. Icy Hot and Nerd Girl were watching the movie normally, while Tape boy and Diabetes were snickering at him for his new role as a goddamn pillow. He glared at them and they looked away like they fucking should. Fucking extras

Attempting to ignore the growing stream of drool on his shoulder, he tried to pay attention to what was happened in the movie. The male lead was finally confessing his stupid feelings, but the girl was now dating someone else who doesn't treat her right. Fucking predictable trash.

A weight falling on the inside of his right thigh pulled his attention away from the shit show that was parading itself as entertainment. Uraraka had joined the group of people now using him as a pillow. Her arm snaked its way loosely around his leg as her round cheek pressed against him.

Anywhere her she touched him his skin felt like fire, but he couldn't will himself to wake her.

Music filled the room as the movie reached its end. The couple had somehow gotten together, fucking shocker, and now were going to spend the last few minutes of the movie kissing. It made him really fucking uncomfortable and he couldn't help but glance down at the girl below him. The kiss was something she hadn't mentioned, and he hoped she had forgotten in all the chaos.

"That was so beautiful!" Raccoon eyes and Invisible girl began gushing as Useless laser boy reached to remove the DVD.

"You know, if you had told me three years ago that people would feel comfy using Bakugo as a pillow I would have lost my shit." Tape dispenser was laughing wildly.

"I never would have pictured you as the secret softie type." Diabetes joined in at his expense.

"When they wake up, I will personally track you down and blow out your fucking voice boxes and we will see who is fucking laughing!" He kept his voice to a loud whisper.

His threats didn't seem to phase them as they kept laughing, apparently not valuing being fucking alive.

"I will say that you really have matured, Bakugo. I didn't know you had it in you, but I'm glad to see you open up to people more." Bird face was one to fucking talk with stupid backhanded fucking compliments.

"It's only because I respect two and a half of these people, or they'd be blown across the room so you better not fucking try me, Bird brain!"

"I better not be that half, Bakugo." Shitty hair pulled away from his shoulder, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"You know you are, don't be fucking stupid." He glared at him to which he responded with a large grin. "And you better fucking grab me a towel to wipe up your goddamn drool. How you manage to sleep at night without drowning yourself is a fucking mystery."

"Here." Nerd girl tossed him a roll of paper towels she had produced from her fucking chest, which still managed to creep him out. He wiped the long line of drool from his arm, throwing the dirtied napkins at Kirishima, who jumped off the couch to dodge them, waking up the sleeping figures on the floor.

"Oh man, Sorry Bakugo. How long was I out for?" Jiro rubbed her eyes and pulled away from him, a large red spot on her face from his knee.

"Basically the entire fucking movie." He stretched out the leg on which she was lying. "I don't know why we even plan movie night when all you extras just sleep through shit anyway."

"I'm sorry, I know you all planned this for me and I've been asleep for days, but I'm still so sleepy…" The small voice from the floor silenced the room. It seemed like everyone was avoiding the topic of Uraraka's kidnapping, and a cold air slid through the room.

She pulled herself off the floor, leaving spots of pure ice where her skin had been touching his own. "Honestly though, that's probably the best I've slept in awhile!" She stretched both arms over her head.

"I think it's about time we get to bed. I'll walk up with you. Sound good, Ochaco?" The Frog girl was eerily good at reading the room.

She nodded in agreement with a smile, and the two left for the elevators.

"Do you think she is going to be okay?" Pikachu broke the uncomfortable silence. "She went through a lot for someone so small…"

Bakugo didn't understand how they could consider that girl weak. She was one of the farthest fucking things from frail he had ever seen. It pissed him off.

"She's strong. She'll be fine." He turned to the kitchen and grabbed something to eat up in his room. He really did believe she'd be just fine, but the real question was how long it would take her to get there.

He stepped into his room for the first time since they had gone to the warehouse. The sheets and covers were haphazardly thrown onto his bed, and the fucking black burn on his wall was still there to welcome him back. Finishing his dinner quickly, he began to clean up the war zone. Piling up the remains of his previous set of sheets, he tossed them in the trash and began picking up the floor and making his bed. He spent almost half and hour scrubbing the wall before giving up. Despite his best efforts, a large, black, crater remained above his bed to fucking taunt him. He would have to get a fucking picture or something to cover it or it would probably drive him insane.

It was passed midnight when he finished, and the thought of sleeping in an actual bed sounded like pure fucking ecstasy. He tore off his shirt and hopped under the covers, only to be rudely pulled out of his almost sleep by a soft knock on his door.

"Fucking Hair for Brains…"

Normally, he would have left him out there knocking like an asshole, but it was late enough that he might wake up some of the other students, and that sounded more fucking annoying than dealing with Shitty Hair alone. He opened the door roughly and was shocked to find Uraraka standing in the hallway. One look at her red face and puffy eyes told him something was wrong and he quickly pulled her into his room, checking to make sure the hallways were clear of prying eyes before shutting it behind them.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Bakugo… But…" She was fidgeting with her hands and occasionally wiping her still damp face.

"Spit it out, Round Face." He fell back onto his bed to avoid towering over her.

"I just… You…" His eyes were glued to her fingers as she rubbed them aggressively, struggling to voice her thoughts. "After the League took you… How long did it take you to be normal again? I know you probably handled it much better than I am, but I keep having nightmares and I feel like I'm back there and I don't want to wake people up with my yelling and I don't want to burden any of my friends and I just… What are you doing?"

He had gotten up in the middle of her rambling and made his way over to his closet, pulling out a set of blankets and spreading them onto the floor. She caught the pillow he threw at her, a questioning look still on her face.

"If you fucking tell anyone I'll blow your head off, but when I got back I ended up sleeping on the floor of my parent's room for a day or two because I had nightmares." He had never told anyone about that before and could feel a blush crawling up his neck in embarrassment. "If you don't want anyone to know, you can sleep here. I sure as hell won't say anything."

She smiled at him and more tears began to well in her eyes. He couldn't tell if he had accidentally offended her or not. "I uh… Didn't mean to…"

"No! It just feels good to know that you understand. That I'm not alone…" She wiped her eyes and gave him her signature cheesy smile.

He hadn't really noticed before, but now that had a better view of her he was able take note of her choice of pajamas. Her silky, pink, pants were heavily worn with the occasionally patched hole, and her shirt was definitely something he had made fun of Raccoon eyes for wearing before, and was likely a hand-me-down. It had a picture of Mt. Lady, Ryuko, and Rumi and the words HERO BITCH written across the front and had also been worn thin. It didn't look like it provided much warmth, but he couldn't help but chuckle as he searched for another blanket.

"The shirt isn't mine!" She must have seen him staring. "Mina sometimes gives me her old clothes since I don't like to spend money on unnecessary shopping…"

Her face was bright red as she tugged at the shirt. He paused to watch her for a moment before throwing the second blanket at her, covering her face and silencing the quickened beating in his chest.

"I didn't say shit, Round Face." His voice was softer than he intended, and she was laughing as she pulled the blanket off her head and around her body.

"Thank you." She lowered herself to the floor and pulled the covers around her as he crawled into his own bed. A few minutes passed with just the sound of their breathing and he assumed she had managed to go to sleep. Which was something he had a feeling he was really going to fucking struggle with.

"Hey Bakugo?"

"Hm?"

"What happened to your wall?" She sounded half asleep, slurring her words slightly.

She probably wouldn't even remember the conversation in the morning, and he figured answering would get her to shut up and fall asleep faster.

"My quirk used to activate in my sleep a lot when I was a kid, it was pretty fucking destructive to our house, so I usually try and keep my room cold. But I guess it still happens occasionally when I get really stressed or pissed off."

"I guess we really do have a lot in common." He could see her lift her hands from where he was lying in bed, as if to show him. The scars on her palms were still red and angry as she twirled them around before lowering them back back down.

"I guess we do." He didn't know how to respond, but was just glad she didn't ask what upset him to cause it. That would have been another fucking story.

"Goodnight, Katsuki." She giggled sleepily, likely enjoying how uncomfortable using his name made him feel. Her breath deepened before he had a chance to respond.

He was right in guessing sleep would not come easy. He was waking up what felt like every five minutes, rolling over to ensure she was still there. His last glance at the clock read half passed two before he fell into a less fitful sleep. It wasn't long before he was woken up again to the sound of yelling. Uraraka was floating at the level of his bed, tears streaming down her face and yelling loudly.

"Shit!"

She was going to wake up the whole fucking floor at this rate. Explaining why Uraraka was screaming in his room, or just in his room at all was some shit he wasn't ready to deal with. He reached for her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to his own chest. Resisting the urge to slap his hand over her mouth, he held her tightly until her yelling faded to soft whimpers. He hoped he had stopped her in time, and remained frozen for a few minutes without hearing any sounds in the hall. Relieved, he turned his attention back to the girl shaking in his arms.

Fuck. Tears were still streaming down her face, and her skin was cold as ice. He felt guilty, knowing his cold room was probably partially to blame. This was not something they fucking trained you to deal with at UA. He imagined that some of their teachers had suffered from PTSD at some point, but no one had ever spoken about it.

Contact had been what calmed him down whenever he had had nightmares, so playing with some uncharted territory, he placed his arm securely around her. The whimpering stopped and he could feel her ragged breathing even out on his own chest, although she was still shivering. He pulled his blanket over the both of them, resting his head above hers. As uncomfortable as the position was, with the sweet smell of her hair and her rhythmic breathing, he fell asleep more peacefully than he had in weeks.

He awoke to large chocolate eyes staring into his own.

Fuck.

They had become tangled in one another somehow during the night. She was using his chest as a pillow and was draped across his body, his arm hung loosely around her, her face inches from his own. He felt his entire body tense and was sure the embarrassment was visible on his face as his neck began to warm.

"Good morning, Katsuki!" She smiled at him, taking away a chunk of fear that she was going attack him for assaulting her, but only worsening his embarrassment. "I woke up a bit nauseous from floating, I'm assuming I had the night terrors again… I'm sorry for being a mess." Her face darkened. He slowly pulled away from her and sat up straight. He was having a difficult time reading the situation, and between the combination of his own embarrassment and what sounded like her feeling guilty, he didn't know what to say.

"This isn't what it looks like." He mumbled softly.

"I know." She sat up as well, reaching a hand over to squeeze his shoulder. "I didn't sleep through the entire hospital stay. I know you helped calm me during some of my terrors. It's part of the reason I came to you…. You are the only one who understands what I'm going through."

His worries washed away as she smiled at him, and a warmth bubbled in his stomach. Her being there in his bed with tangled hair, puffy eyes and that stupid smile made him really fucking happy for some stupid reason. Worried he was staring too long, he playfully pushed her off his bed.

"If you're just planning on using me for my goddamn body here, Round Face, I expect to be fucking paid."

"You know, I never pegged you as the prostitute type, Bakugo." She had stood up from the floor and had a goddamn mischievous smile on her face like some kind of fucking sadist.

He threw a small explosion towards her face, expecting her to cower away and leave in fear. She didn't even flinch as the small blast blew her tangled hair away from her face, the smile never leaving her face. She wasn't scared of him.

"You're just mad cause my joke was better than yours." She stuck out her tongue at him like a snotty brat and laughed softly. "I know you wouldn't ever actually hurt me."

They silently stared at one another, the only audible noise was the sound of his heart pounding. He was sure she could hear it too as he felt warmth rise up the back of his neck, threatening to make itself visible.

His much needed distraction came in the form of the creaking floorboards in the next room, signaling that they both were about to be fucking boned if she didn't leave. Her eyes widened in fear as she likely came across the same realization he had. She rushed to his door and peeked her head out, only turning to smile at him briefly before sprinting quickly out of sight.

Finally alone, his head felt like it was fucking reeling. What the fuck had just happened and what the fuck was wrong with him? He had let a goddamn girl sleep in his room, in his fucking bed, and all he could think about was how empty it felt with her gone.

It was Sunday, and he had no reason to even leave his room, but his pillow smelled like her, and he needed fresh air. He brushed his teeth and threw on his training gear before heading out of his room and running straight into Raccoon eyes, who was apparently trying, and fucking failing, to sneak out of Shitty Hair's room. The girl turned a weird shade of purple before racing down the hall in what looked like Hair for Brain's clothes.

"It's those romance movies, you know? Always gets her in the mood." Kirishima was standing in the doorway of his room, a shit eating grin plastered onto his face. The thought of Alien girl being in the mood in literally any context, especially next door to his own room, made him feel nauseas. "Hey man, don't get that high and mighty look on your face. You know you'd be stoked to have a girl in your room. Well… Maybe just Uraraka."

Bakugo could feel his eyes widen briefly, before donning his signature scowl. There was no way he knew she had been there, there would be way more interrogation.

"I'd rather fucking die. Top heroes don't waste their time on stupid emotional shit."

"Eh, I'd rather be a happy number four than a miserable number one."

"Who says you're even good enough for number four?" He grinned, knowing he struck a nerve and ducked just in time to avoid a right hook.

After the quick faux spar, Shitty Hair accompanied him to the gym, leading to full on combat practice. He seemed to have abandoned the Uraraka questions for the time being, and focused on the fight, putting up a decent challenge.

"Your moves are too predictable, Shit stain. If you ever want to beat me, you need to change things up."

They were walking back to the dorms together. Wet from the shower, icicles were forming on his hair and adding to the already freezing weather.

"You are always so good at flattery, Bakugo." He smacked him roughly on the back of the head. It was too fucking cold to bother with explosions, and he decided to let him live this time. "I'll work on some stuff and we can spar again next week. I have a date with Mina on Saturday, but I can do Sunday."

"Tch, you are always with her."

"I'm dating her, man. It's been over a year now."

"How?" Racoon Eyes was literally the most fucking annoying human being he knew. The thought of spending extended amounts of one on one time with her made his fucking head hurt.

"I don't know… I'm happy when I'm around her. She's one of my best friends and I don't like the idea of a world without her in it." He scratched the back of his head, staring out towards the city. "I think I love her, man."

Bakugo couldn't find an answer beyond a soft mumble. His thoughts were wandering all over the fucking place, and he was glad to make it back to the dorms. Most of the class were covering the couch, watching some stupid ass show on the television and Shitty Hair happily joined them. He scanned the room quickly, looking for Round Face, and was disappointed to find her absent from the crowd. Mentally berating himself for fucking searching for her like a lost puppy, he decided to avoid people and head to his room.

He spent the majority of the day catching up on assignments he had missed and reviewing material for the week. Trying to push the question that was gnawing at him to the back of his mind. Would she come back to his room tonight? He obviously didn't fucking want her there, she was too loud, annoying, and messed with his precious sleep. But he couldn't seem to push the small flame of excitement from his mind.

She did come that night, and the next and the next. Each time it was the same thing. She'd sleep on his floor until her night terrors kicked in, and then to shut her up and stop her from waking up the whole fucking dorm, he'd pull her into his bed and calm her down until she could get back on the floor. They'd wake up and chat for a bit before she'd jump from his window, and spend the day in class pretending nothing happened.

She seemed to be getting better slowly, but the whole situation was starting to make him feel uncomfortable, and he couldn't fucking pinpoint why. It was Friday morning before he asked the question that had been lurking in the back of his mind all week.

"Hey, Angel Face. How long do you plan on crashing in my goddamn bed?" She was lying against his chest, another night where she hadn't made it back to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" She jerked away from him and sat up quickly, her embarrassment and what looked like fear evident on her face. "If you want me to stop coming I will! I don't want to become a burden to you or anything. It's just that I feel like I'm getting better and you're helping me get there and I don't feel scared when I'm here but I will leave if you wa-"

"Uraraka." He grabbed her by the shoulders. Her word vomit had almost been too fast for him to catch and he needed her to calm the fuck down. "I don't fucking care."

That wasn't a lie. He had somehow managed to learn to sleep incredibly well with her next to him, and with her fucking jumpy ass, that was saying something. He watched her face as her embarrassment turned into a mischievous smile.

"Aww, is Kacchan gonna miss me?

He tackled her before he could process any words passed that fucking nickname, pinning her to his bed.

"Don't fucking call me that." He growled viciously at her.

The smile stayed plastered on her face as she laughed, despite the venom in his voice. It made it really fucking hard to stay mad at her. Determined to win this battle of wills, he tried his best to give her his most intimidating glare, and as he got closer to her face her smile softened slightly. She tilted her head and closed her eyes as her lips met with his own.

His eyes widened in shock as a tingling heat spread through his entire body. He instinctively closed his own eyes, unpinning her arms as he leaned into the kiss. This was different from the last time he had kissed her, it was longer and almost… Needy. Even without anything forcibly clouding his brain, his head still felt foggy and light. He could feel red flags popping up everywhere, but as her hands reached up and tangled themselves into his hair, everything seemed to go blank. He wrapped his left arm around her waist to pull her closer, and his right cupped her round cheek.

He felt awkward and inexperienced as he pressed his lips forcefully onto hers, but his entire body was screaming for him to keep going.

Reminding himself to breath, he reluctantly pulled away enough to meet her eyes. She was still smiling, but her eyes looked misty and on the verge of tears.

Fuck. He pulled away quickly, realizing he must have done something wrong. Was he too forceful? He shouldn't have kissed her without fucking asking. But didn't she kiss him?

"I'm so sorry…" Her face was bright red and her eyes watery as she darted off his bed, straightening her hair and her clothes. "I shouldn't have done that, I'm so stupid. I'm so sorry, I'm an idiot!"

"Wait! Uraraka!"

She was out the door before he could finish calling her name, leaving him dumbfounded, alone on his bed.

"What the fucking hell just happened?"

And now he was talking to himself like a goddamn idiot. He tried to dissect what had just transpired but kept pulling blanks. He was sure she had been the one to kiss him… Did he take it too far? He could barely remember the details other than the feel of her lips on his and how they were still fucking tingling.

Godfuckingdammit.

He collapsed back on his bed. This was his second time kissing Uraraka and both times had ended in complete fucking disaster, but this time all he could fucking think about was kissing her again. Which was arguably way fucking worse.

 ***knock knock***

"Yo, Bakugo! You're gonna be late if you don't get your butt into gear." Shitty Hair living next door was literally going to be the death of him.

In all the mess that was his morning, he had forgotten it was a school day. Skipping seemed like it would be a really good fucking option. He groaned knowing his conscious wouldn't fucking let him.

"Also I ran into a little mouse leaving your room this morning and I will camp out here until you tell me about it."

Well fuck.

—

"So what you're telling me is you've basically had a live in girlfriend for a week and you kiss her once and she runs off." Hair for brains was having a goddamn field day. The smile plastered across his face was bright enough to rival the fucking Christmas lights in the dorm.

"She isn't my fucking girlfriend." The walk to class had never felt this fucking long in his life.

"Well, do you want her to be? Cause you crossed the friendship line when you kissed her."

"She kissed me, and fuck no."

"That was a pretty weak denial, dude. Plus, you kissed back. And you enjoyed it."

"I never fucking said that." He threw an explosion towards Hair for brains, scorching his shirt slightly, but not enough to shake him off topic.

"I'm not an idiot. You've had it bad for her since before all this happened." Kirishima straightened his shirt, giving him a serious look. "You can't hide your emotions forever, man. You're gonna have to tell her how you feel or you're gonna explode yourself."

Silence fell between them. They were getting close to the classroom, and Bakugo was praying he could just put all this shit behind him.

The moment he laid eyes on her he knew it would be impossible to forget. He took his seat, trying to look as casual as possible. She was talking and laughing with Four eyes and Sugar freak like nothing was wrong, never once looking towards him. His palms were sweating at a dangerous level, and his heart was beating way too fucking fast to be healthy.

He spent basically the entire fucking day staring out the window, and avoided making eye contact with anyone. During lunch, he sat alone, and even Shitty Hair seemed to get the hint to avoid him. Once the bell rang, he made his way back to his room, skipping dinner and avoiding even coming close to talking with any of the fucking extras.

Part of him was relieved she hadn't mentioned anything and part of him was pissed off she didn't even look at him. He felt more like a human bomb than ever before, teetering on the edge of exploding. How much longer could he fucking handle this shit?

It was Friday, and he was grateful to have two full days alone to get over this shit. He was sure that by Monday, he would have forgotten all about the kiss and things would go back to normal. They would be nothing more than classmates who occasionally sparred. The thought made him feel somehow empty, but he blamed it on being hungry as shit. He had managed to sit and accomplish nothing in his room until after eleven, and it was probably safe to run down and grab food without having to talk with anyone.

He made his way down in the dark, opting for the stairs instead of the elevator. If there were still assholes in the living room at this hour, at least he could sneak into the kitchen without having to deal with their shit.

The main room was mostly dark, with one light still glowing in the living area, illuminating two figures. It would be no problem to sneak into the kitchen unseen and he smiled to himself for being so goddamn smart. He reached into the cabinets to grab some bread and peanut butter to avoid the fridge light when he recognized her voice.

"Deku… I don't know what to say.."

Uraraka. Out of all the goddamn people he could have run into, it had to be her and the shitty goddamn Nerd. He tried to ignore them and focus on making his sandwich, but he couldn't seem to ignore them. They were still in their uniforms, and standing close to one another near a handful of still lit Christmas stand lights.

"You don't have to say anything now! I understand it's a lot to spring on you… But I needed to tell you. With everything that's been going on, I don't want to take a chance and lose you, you know?" He grabbed her hand, sending an annoying wave of nausea down into Bakugo's stomach. Stupid fucking Deku being a little shit head. The conversation seemed private, and he was relieved to see him pull away from her and head towards the elevators. "We can talk about it again tomorrow!"

"Oh, and Uraraka?" He turned around and grabbed her waist, pulling her close to him, before leaning down and kissing her softly. "Goodnight!"

He ran back to the elevator with a stupid smile plastered on his face, leaving her standing alone.

Bakugo felt what he imagined having a knife run through his fucking chest would feel like. Part of him wanted to vomit, and the other part was screaming at himself for even fucking caring.

He and Uraraka weren't together, and he shouldn't get so fucking pissed watching her drool over fucking Deku like she always has. But his body didn't seem to agree with his brain. His eyes were stinging and his heart was thumping in his chest almost painfully. The sweat coating his palms ignited without his command, blowing up the plate of food in his hands. Luckily he wasn't even fucking hungry anymore.

Uraraka was frozen there with her fingers resting on her lips and he couldn't fucking pull his eyes away from her. The crash of the broken plate hitting the ground seemed to break her out of her trance, and her gaze darted towards the kitchen.

"Is someone there?" Her voice was soft, and it made the pit in his stomach feel even more hollow.

His legs moved before he could stop them, carrying him into the light. Her eyes widened as she recognized him, but she made no move to speak.

The sweating in his hands was getting worse, and if he wasn't careful, he'd hurt the both of them on accident. He headed toward the door, opening it without turning back to face her.

"Uraraka. We need to talk." The night air hit him like a knife, cooling his hands and distracting him from the pain in his chest momentarily as he walked outside. Part of him was begging her to follow him, and the other part hoped she was smart enough to run the fuck away. Either way, he didn't have the strength to turn around and see her face.

The door closed with a slam behind him, leaving him alone in the darkness.


End file.
